


Sugar and Spice

by FestiveFerret



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alpha Steve Rogers, Alpha Tony Stark, Alpha/Alpha, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Double Anal Penetration, Double Knotting, Double Penetration, Explicit Sexual Content, Fluff, Happy Ending, Jealousy, Knotting, Love, M/M, Nesting, No CW Angst, Omega Bucky Barnes, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Relationship Development, Relationship Negotiations, Scenting, Some angst, Switching, Touches on WS, flip fucking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2020-01-15 07:53:20
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 27,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18494623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FestiveFerret/pseuds/FestiveFerret
Summary: "If you think you can take me," Tony whispered darkly in his ear, and Steve failed to suppress the shudder that ricocheted down his spine, "then come up to my penthouse tonight at eight and prove it."





	Sugar and Spice

**Author's Note:**

> This is all thanks to [athletiger](https://archiveofourown.org/users/athletiger) without whom this would not exist on several fronts. Thank you - you're the best!!
> 
> This was entirely an excuse for me to get to write some of my fav abo tropes alpha/alpha, double knotting, dp, as well as the suggestion I write "flip fuck" on my 'never have I ever' ask meme on tumblr. 
> 
> Thanks to the MCU Stony discord at large for helping me out! <3
> 
> (Thanks to ashes0909 for loving me)

Steve scrubbed his towel over his face then turned back to the mat. "Square up."

Tony scowled, but settled into his stance. He wasn't bad, but Steve could see the openings on him like they were highlighted in neon. He charged and Tony dodged, but not fast enough. Steve hooked his waist then twisted him to the ground, slamming him into the mats.

Tony cursed and his face screwed up with pain, but he shook it off and stood again. He huffed out a sharp breath then twisted and grabbed Steve by the arm. They tumbled to the mats, wrestling gracelessly. Tony's alpha pheromones were pumping into the space between them as he sweated. He smelled angry. Steve imagined he smelled pretty damn angry himself.

"Get the fuck off me," Tony growled, when Steve pinned him for a second too long. He had the urge to scent him, rub his nose in behind his ear and get that pungent spice all up in his lungs.

Steve jumped back and shook off the urge. He was hot, flushed, and riled up from their sparring session. "Come on, Stark, you can do better than that," he taunted, wanting to see the flash of anger in Tony's eyes.

He got his reward. "Fuck off." Tony charged again and they traded blows, hot breath panting out between them. Steve jolted sharply when his back hit the wall unexpectedly, and Tony pressed up against him. "’Put on the suit,’ huh? Thought I was nothing without it?" Tony's voice had dropped low and rough.

Steve's eyes cut down to the jut of Tony's jaw. He growled then shoved hard, knocking him back. Tony blocked his next two hits, but his eyes went wide when Steve ducked under and got him in the ribs. He grappled with him, taking him to the floor again, Tony's wrists pinned to the mat with Steve's grip. "Thought everything special about me came out of a bottle?" he hissed back. "But I can out-strategize you without the serum any day."

Tony rumbled back, but Steve didn't let him up this time, letting his full weight hold Tony to the mat. "Fuck you, Rogers. Get off."

"You'd like that wouldn't you," Steve snapped back, before he realized what he was saying. When the innuendo sunk in, they both froze. There was something in Tony's eye, almost challenging, daring, and Steve was never one to back down from a challenge. He rammed his nose against Tony's scent gland and pushed, sucking in. He was hot and spicy, nothing like the sweet, sugary hit of an omega, but it got Steve's blood pumping nonetheless.

Tony's hands jumped up and grabbed two fistfuls of Steve's hair. Steve pulled back, looking to find Tony's eyes, but instead Tony twisted his face and pressed their lips together. It wasn't a kiss, at least nothing like any of the kisses Steve had ever had. Tony was all teeth and tongue and desperation, sucking Steve's bottom lip in to nip at it then licking into his mouth. Steve gave as good as he got, and it wasn't long before their chests were heaving with heavy breaths, sweaty skin rubbing together. Tony's legs fell open, and Steve slotted between them. He could feel the bulge in Tony's sweatpants and he shifted around until he knew Tony could feel his pressed up against it.

"So that's it?" Tony huffed out between frantic, biting kisses. "We just needed to screw away our differences?"

"Maybe," Steve admitted with a groan. "You - you make me - _gah."_

"Ever been with another alpha before?" Tony asked, and Steve pulled back to find his face, suddenly wondering if Tony was making fun of him. He hadn't, though he'd had a crush on Peggy he'd never admitted to anyone. Alphas didn't date alphas, at least not back then. It wasn't done.

And Bucky had been his only omega.

With Bucky gone, it was hard to face the idea of taking on another omega, of giving someone the same trust and openness he'd had with his best friend and partner, but it didn't mean he didn't have urges. And the way Tony was rutting up against his thigh was bringing all of them to the forefront.

"No," Steve breathed, pressing down into the heat of Tony's long lines. "We couldn't -"

"But you've thought about it?"

"Maybe. I -"

The door clanged open, and Steve levitated off of Tony, flinging himself towards his towel and water bottle and trying to will down the half-erection Tony had inspired. He heard Tony chuckling behind him, but he ignored it, and after a few deep breaths, he turned around to see Natasha crossing the gym towards the ballet barre. She waved at him and he nodded back.

"If you think you can take me," Tony whispered darkly in his ear, and Steve failed to suppress the shudder that ricocheted down his spine, "then come up to my penthouse tonight at eight and prove it."

A moment later, the door to the gym open and shut again. Steve looked up to find himself alone with Natasha, heat thudding through his veins.

"You okay?" she asked, pulling off her sweater before starting to stretch.

"Yup," Steve replied, knowing it sounded strained.

"I didn't mean to interrupt your sparring."

"No, it's okay. We were just finishing up anyway. Tony had a thing."

"Okay." Natasha went back to her stretching and while she was turned away, Steve collected his things and bolted.

Back in his rooms, he took the hottest shower he could manage then paced up and down his living room, damp hair dripping an uncomfortable path down the back of his t-shirt. Tony had come on to him. Granted, he'd started it. But Tony had come on to him, and now Steve needed to make a decision. If he didn't go upstairs tonight, Tony would forget it had ever happened. They'd move on, move forward, and it likely wouldn't come up again.

If he went upstairs…

Well, it was pretty obvious what would happen. Even after his shower, he could smell the acrid tingle of Tony's arousal and it made him want to shred something, move, _do something._ Tony incensed him. How was he supposed to focus on anything else until he got this out from under his skin?

But Tony was an alpha. Even acknowledging the thought sent a trickle of shame dripping down, ice cold in his belly. And it was pretty clear that Tony wasn't going to be playing omega for Steve. He wanted it hard and rough and challenging. He wanted another alpha. And _god,_ Steve wanted to give it to him.

There was a part of him that didn't want to do anything Tony had told him to, but it was easily squashed down by the idea of having Tony pinned under him again, writhing and rutting, heated and spicy and -

Steve cut himself off and screeched to a halt. He was going to wear a hole in his carpet. There was nothing for it. He wouldn't be able to get this out of his head if he didn't act. So he was going to go to Tony tonight, answer the question that had been tickling the back of his mind since puberty - _what would it be like with another alpha? -_ then move on. Tony was the perfect one night stand and the perfect chance to experiment. They had to work together after this, so Tony would have to keep his mouth shut, and he knew the man was good at that kind of thing.

Steve checked the clock. Four pm. He started pacing again.

**

At 8:01pm Tony's traitorous mind started telling him Steve wasn't coming. His challenge-slash-come-on had been entirely unplanned and extremely ill-advised, but as the evening dragged on, Tony sunk more and more into acceptance that he was waiting for that knock on the door and if it didn't come, he was going to be disappointed. He and Steve had their disagreements, but those places where they rubbed each other the wrong way caused delicious friction, and Tony wanted more. Alphas were all rough hands and sharp bites and strong scents, and Tony loved it. He'd known that was what he wanted from a shockingly young age and he'd spent most of his youth chasing it down. The older he got, the more he came to appreciate the sweetness of an omega, the slick give and the incomparable fire of a heat, but it always came back to alphas, and Steve Rogers was the perfect alpha.

Tony let his hand wander down to cup the bulge in his jeans. If Steve wasn't coming, he'd have to take care of things himself. He was tugging at the button of his fly when a heavy knock reverberated through the room, and he jerked up to his feet and fixed his clothes.

Steve had come.

Either that or JARVIS had ordered him a pity pizza and he was about to traumatize a delivery guy with the amount of alpha stench he'd pumped into the room. He ripped open the door and found Steve, half-terrified, half-determined, hovering on his threshold.

"Come in." Tony stepped back, and Steve slipped past him. His nostrils widened as he took in the room, and Tony grinned sharply when a  bead of sweat broke out on Steve's brow and he shoved his hands lower in his pockets. "Want a drink?"

"You know I'm not here for a drink, Stark," Steve growled out, and Tony shoved the door closed, locking it after.

He leaned back against it. "I know, but you seem a bit tense. Thought it might loosen you up."

"Alcohol has no effect on me." Steve stepped closer, close enough to touch but there was still a careful foot between them. "There's another way to loosen me up." Steve's cheeks pinked, betraying his uncertainty, but his voice was firm and he shuffled even closer.

Tony pinched Steve's t-shirt between two fingers and drew him all the way in until they were pressed against each other. Tony hummed then hooked the back of Steve's neck and pulled him in for another kiss. When he gave to the pressure, Tony rolled until Steve was the one pressed back against the door. Steve tensed under him, and Tony grinned into the kiss. This was what he wanted. He grabbed Steve's shirt and jerked backwards, pulling him with him.

Steve gripped around Tony's waist and all but carried him as they half-stumbled into the bedroom and crumpled on the bed. Tony wrestled with both their clothes, but Steve kept rumbling and smacking his hands away.

"Come on!" Tony urged, grinding up against Steve's thick thigh. "I want you to put your mouth where my money is."

Steve rolled his eyes. "That's crass, Stark."

Tony grabbed his collar and tugged him down until they were face to face. "Let's get one thing straight." He nipped at Steve's lip and drank in the gasp that leaked out. Steve was pumping the room full of his spicy arousal and it had Tony harder than a rock. "You're about to fuck an alpha, sweetheart. Crass is where I live."

Steve huffed then gripped Tony's shoulder and rolled him facedown on the bed.

"Fuck yeah," Tony whined, getting sweet friction on his needy erection against the mattress. His pants jerked off and hit the floor, two spots of pain erupting where Steve had tugged them harshly over his hips. Steve's mouth found the back of his neck and he licked and sucked until Tony was humping the bed, his hands shifting over Tony's back and down to cup his ass. "Don't have all day, Rogers," Tony moaned. "For the love of god, do something."

Steve stilled. "I don't actually… huh. I don't know what alphas can do together. I don't want to hurt you."

Tony rolled over onto his back against and grinned up at Steve. "Don't lie. You a little bit want to hurt me."

Steve ducked his chin, but he was smiling. He cocked an eyebrow at Tony. "Maybe a little bit. But not _hurt_ hurt."

"Fair enough." Tony noticed Steve had stripped his shirt off at some point and he raked his fingers down his smooth chest, reveling in the dip and curve of every muscle. "I'll show you." He pushed Steve down then rolled over so Steve was underneath him then grabbed a bottle of slick from the bedside drawer and tossed it next to them. While he was tugging off Steve's pants, Steve picked up the bottle.

"What's this?"

"It's synthetic omega slick."

"Oh." Steve's throat bobbed.

Tony crawled back up his naked body with a predatory grin. "It doesn't smell like anything. You can get scented ones but I prefer to smell you." He shoved his face into Steve's neck.

"Oh, god, Tony. I'm so hard. I can't believe -"

Tony spread Steve's legs and knelt between them. He was as beautiful naked as Tony expected him to be. Muscles layered over more muscles, all bound together with smooth skin. Someone had taught Cap how to manscape because his hair was neat and clipped close and it only made his sizable cock look even bigger. Tony dipped down and sucked on the slight swell where Steve's knot would grow then licked up the length of his cock. It was heavy and leaking at the tip, undeniably alpha in the way his scent burned the back of Tony's throat. "So fucking hot." He popped the cap on the slick and poured a generous amount on his fingers. "This is what you're going to do to me," he said, delighting in the mix of arousal and apprehension that filled Steve's expression.

Tony stroked down Steve's cock, leaving a streak of slick, then dipped behind his balls to circle his hole with one finger. Steve twitched and jerked. "Fuck." He was sweating.

"Relax. It'll feel good. I won't fuck you if you're not ready for it, but you need to feel what you're doing to me so you know how far you can go."

"Okay. Okay." Steve threw his arm over his eyes and growled long and low when Tony's fingertip pushed past his rim.

"God, you're so hot," Tony whined. "It's criminal you've never been with another alpha."

"It used to _be_ criminal to be with another alpha," Steve retorted with a snort. "It wasn't worth the risk. And then I had Buck."

"But you wanted to." Tony kept fingering him open, making Steve quiver and squirm as he peppered light kisses over his stomach, teasing the head of his cock with his cheek.

"Yeah, I wanted to…" Steve breathed. "The way you smell…"

Tony sat back, pinning Steve to the bed with a heavy hand on his chest. He was giving so sweetly to Tony's fingers, softening and opening up until Tony could work another one in. "How does that feel?"

"It's… good. It's nice. I thought it would hurt. It doesn't hurt."

"Don't worry… I can still make it hurt." Tony flicked one of Steve's nipples and he flinched, clenching down on Tony's fingers. "Oh god, that's incredible. I want to feel that on my cock."

"You could - you can, I mean. I'm willing to try it."

"You're so adventurous. Captain America doesn't back down from a challenge, does he?"

Steve shook his head then laughed. "Just sparring with our clothes off, Stark. I can take it rough."

"Fuck me," Tony breathed. He shifted down the bed and started fingering Steve with real purpose, working him as open and relaxed as he could. He sucked the head of his cock between his lips and sucked, keeping Steve clenching and releasing, rolling his hips and groaning, caught in a haze of pleasure.

When Steve was loose and slick, Tony settled up between his legs and kissed him silly. "Ready?"

"Yeah." Steve's eyes stayed glued on the place where their bodies met as Tony pressed inside, slowly, one inch at a time. Steve's mouth fell open and he hitched his legs up, inviting Tony to push deeper. When Tony bottomed out he sighed. "Wow."

"Fuck, you feel good. Those super soldier muscles aren't just for show, are they?"

Steve tugged Tony down to his chest and nipped along his jawline. "Why don't you find out?"

Tony rocked back then pressed in again, gradually setting a rhythm that had them both gasping and groaning. Steve's hands and mouth couldn't seem to stop, biting, licking, and petting everything he could reach. Tony dipped his chin so Steve could breathe in the spice of his sweat.

After a short while, Steve flinched under him and Tony stilled. "Too much?"

"Uh - I -"

Tony pulled back, groaning as he slipped free of Steve's body.

"I didn't mean stop," Steve whined, but even though he was still rock hard, Tony could see the little red flags in his body language that said he was hitting his limit.

"This isn't all about you, Rogers," Tony quipped back. He grabbed the lube bottle and spilled some over Steve's fingers then scooted forward until he was straddling Steve's hips.

Steve looked at his hand. "You really trust me to do this?"

"It's not rocket science." Tony guided Steve's hand to his ass and nodded, smiling, when Steve's finger sought his hole. "Yeah, you got it."

Steve was tentative, but explored Tony's body with the same honest determination that he approached everything. Every time Tony gasped or twitched to rolled his hips down to find more friction, Steve's lips twitched up at the corners. The room was drenched with their combined pheromones, hot and tingling until oxygen was hard to find and Tony's head spun.

When he couldn't take the anticipation anymore, Tony shuffled back and knocked Steve's hand away. He lined up and sunk down onto his cock in one long, slow slide. The stretch was heavenly. Tony's squeezed down around Steve and shifted his hips so he could feel every delicious inch of him.

Steve cursed and gripped Tony's thighs so hard he felt bruises bloom under each of Steve's fingertips. He pushed and pulled, manhandling Tony into the rhythm he wanted, and Tony let him, rocking and rolling, his cock working Tony's prostate relentlessly.

"Oh god, I'm going to come," Steve gasped, fingers tightening even more. "Tony - shit - I can't hold off -"

"Don't hold off. Just - come on, Steve."

Steve pulled Tony down on his cock then suddenly spun, rolling Tony through the air until he found himself on his back. "Holy shit! A little warning?"

Steve just groaned and plunged deep into him again then bit down on Tony's shoulder as he came. "Tony, Tony, Tony…" He clasped their bodies tightly together as he pulsed and pulsed. Tony almost flinched away, worried that Steve was going to pop a knot, but he managed to keep himself under control, and after a moment he pulled back, leaving a trail of hot come leaking out of Tony's ass. Steve let out a long, hard breath and fell onto the mattress.

"Shit." Steve's chest heaved for a moment then he rolled onto his stomach and rocked his hips back and forth. He pulled his face out of the pillow to blink at Tony. "Well?"

"You're up for it?"

"Think I'm up for anything right now," Steve slurred. "Can hardly feel my feet."

Tony wasted no time climbing up on Steve's back. He slipped two fingers inside but he was still slick from before and even more relaxed, his body welcoming Tony in easily. Tony quickly replaces his fingers with his cock and slid in all the way. Steve's body was hot and slick and so so tight, and Tony had to bite his lip and squeeze his eyes closed to keep from coming right away.

He didn't want to wear Steve out again, thought the noises Steve was making into his pillow suggested he was enthusiastically into this and so out of it after his own orgasm that he really didn't care what Tony got up to. Tony thrust roughly, but short and shallow, finding an angle that rolled Steve's slick insides just right down the length of his cock.  Pleasure built hot and electric until Tony couldn't take it anymore. He thrust in twice more then pulled back, then jerked his cock in rough strokes until he came, pulsing all over Steve's back and ass and his fucked out hole.

Tony took a moment to admire the splashes of white dotting Steve's skin then flopped onto the bed, panting. "Huh." He turned his head to look at Steve, who had buried his entire face in the pillow and was sucking air through it. He seemed too tired to move. "Not bad, Rogers."

 _"Nuh -_ " Steve rolled his face out and blinked at Tony. "Not bad yourself."

"We should do that again sometime," Tony said lightly, watching several emotions flit across Steve's face. His jaw worked for a moment then he rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling.

"Yeah. Yeah, we should."

"Unless the whole alpha thing is too much for you to handle," Tony teased, giving Steve a gentle out, but he snorted in reply.

"You wish. You're not as much to handle as you seem to think you are." Steve shot Tony a cheeky grin, then let his eyes flick down.

"You ass."

Steve swallowed. "Thank you, though. That was - uh - nice."

"Great. Best review I've had in a while." Tony rolled over onto his side. Sleep pressed heavily over him. Steve didn't move. "Uh, Steve? Bud? You should go now."

"Right." Steve lay still for a moment longer then levered himself up with a groan. "Nuh…"

"Wear you out?"

"You wish!"

Tony listened to the rustling of Steve collecting his clothes then the creak of the door. "Night, Tony," he said softly.

Tony grumbled, "Night," into his pillow. He fell asleep before he had time to think about any of what had just happened.

**

The guilt hit Steve as soon as he was back in his own apartment.

It wasn't like he and Bucky hadn't known that there was a good chance at least one of them wouldn't make it through the war. And neither of them expected the other to live alone forever after that. But it still hurt. It still felt wrong, and uncomfortable, and a little too much like a betrayal to fall in someone else's bed. He'd promised Bucky forever.

Of course, if Buck were here, he'd say, "Don't be an idiot, Stevie. Go get laid."

At least Tony was casual, that much was thankfully clear. They didn't hate each other, but they didn't exactly like each other, either, and it made it easy to keep things simple between them. Tony, apparently, "swung this way" regularly, and Steve finally had the chance to experiment. Besides, Bucky wouldn't want to see him sad and lonely forever. He could ease back into dating via Tony's not-so-gentle guidance, and when he was ready, maybe someone serious would catch his eye.

Of course, that was only if Tony actually wanted to do this again. In the afterglow wasn't a time to be cashing any promises. But as it happened, it was only two weeks before Steve found himself in Tony's bed again.

"Cap!" Tony shouted across the cluttered warehouse, as a grenade crashed through the window and stuttered across the floor. Steve grabbed the shield then jumped up, pushing off the ground with one foot. Tony snapped him out of the air and wrapped him in his metal arms. Steve braced himself against the sudden movement as Tony blasted them through a window, glass bursting around them. The entire building exploded when they were barely free of the window frame, and the shockwave knocked them out of the sky.

They tumbled to an adjacent rooftop in a mess of armour, shield, and elbows. Steve winced as pain sparked up his side. Tony released him and popped the faceplate up, sucking in air. "You okay?"

Steve pushed up and ran his eyes down Tony, looking for signs of pain or damage to the suit. "Yup. You?"

"Uhhh…"

"Tony." Steve pressed a hand over the arc reactor and searched Tony's face for answers.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm okay. Just didn't want to answer too hastily."

Steve flopped back on the ground. "Shit."

Tony pushed himself to his feet with a groan then held out a hand which Steve took. He pulled him up and the momentum brought them chest to chest, the extra height of the Iron Man armour putting Tony level with Steve. They were so close. Something crackled between them, then their comms burst with chatter and they both stepped away, turning back into the battle.

Steve carried that tension with him straight through cleanup, debrief, and into his shower back at the tower. The hot water washed away the dirt and the blood, but it did nothing for the antsiness that hummed in Steve's veins, and he rubbed himself too hard with his towel, trying to scrape it away to no avail.

He was fiddling with his TV remote, wondering what to watch when there was a knock on the door. He opened it to find Tony standing there, a little awkwardly, hair wet and skin flushed from a shower Steve suspected had been as hot as his own.

"Hey," Tony said.

"Hi." Steve stepped back to let Tony in and shut the door behind him. "You okay?"

"I don't know. That battle got me all wired. I can't settle."

"I know what you mean. I feel it too." They hovered there for a moment, eyes locked, then Tony stepped forward. There was a heartbeat where Steve saw what was coming and he had the chance to stop it, but when Tony leaned in for the kiss, Steve just let his eyes fall closed.

It was hesitant for all of five seconds and then they broke into hot and frantic. Steve drew Tony into his arms while Tony pawed at his clothing, both of them stumbling back towards the bedroom. Steve was more confident this time, what to do and exactly what he wanted. He'd bought his own bottle of slick, hoping this might happen, and when he pulled it out of the drawer, Tony grinned.

"Boy scout."

"Shut up, Stark," Steve said affectionately. He wriggled down Tony's body and sucked his cock down to the base, knocking any retorts right out of Tony's mouth. As soon as Tony was writhing and moaning, he slicked his fingers and started working him open. Tony's cock was heaving on his tongue, leaking bitter precome, and Steve got caught in the pleasure of sucking him off. He swallowed him down to the base, throat working around his length, then slid back up, and Tony gasped.

Steve's fingers gently stretched Tony's hole, working the lube in and urging his muscles to soften under his touch. He found Tony's prostate and almost choked when pressure there made Tony's hips jerk up. "Oh, fuck, Steve. You keep doing that and I'm not going to last."

And all at once, Steve needed Tony to come like that, shoot down his throat while Steve fingered him. He wanted to feel him clench around his fingers and throb on his tongue, and know that he'd done this just for Tony, focused on making him feel good.

Tony's fingers furrowed through his hair, gripping just a little too tight, and his hips started thrusting up off the bed. "Steve, Steve, fuckfuckfuck. Yes -" He cut off into a groan and then he was pulsing on Steve's tongue, his muscles rippling around the three fingers he'd worked into his hole.

Steve sucked him through the aftershocks then slowly slid back, come spilling over his lip. He licked it away. Tony tasted bright and bitter. Almost metallic, with a spicy aftertaste that was all alpha. It was intoxicating and enervating. Steve folded forward over Tony and pushed one of his legs up st the knee. He couldn't wait for him to recover fully. He needed to feel him now.

"Ah, yeah, fuck me," Tony whined, spreading his legs wider as Steve settled between them. Tony was slick and loose from Steve's fingers and he slipped right in, pressing until his balls were tight against Tony's ass.

Tony clenched, and Steve's vision blacked out for a moment. He was so tight and hot. He started pistoning his hips, driving rough and deep. Tony kept a grip on Steve's shoulders and moaned through it, biting his lip and nodding encouragingly when Steve looked at him with concern, worried it was too much. But Tony had been right when he said he could take it rough. Steve peppered bites then kisses across his chest. He wasn't holding back, wasn't trying to take his time, and it wasn't long before familiar pressure started building low in his gut. He chased the feeling, finding the perfect angle, and they groaned in unison when he shifted back and pulled Tony into his lap.

Steve pressed deep then stuttered to a halt as he felt the telltale swelling of his knot. "Shit."

"Steve…" Tony warned. "Don't you dare knot me."

"I can't help it," Steve whined. "God, you feel so good. Tony -"

"Fuck - hold on." Tony rolled over, the two men groaning in tandem as Steve slipped free. Tony urged Steve to spoon up against his back. "Okay - go."

"I can't knot you, Tony. I won't hurt you," Steve said, betraying his words by pressing back into Tony's welcoming heat until the swell of his knot pressed against his rim.

"I know, I know. Just - trust me. Keep going until you can't take it anymore. I'll help you out."

"Okay." Steve nipped the back of Tony's neck, forcing a growl out of him then gripped his hip and plunged in again. He fell into the rhythm, tension building and growing, tingling down deep in his core. His knot swelled more and more until the urge to shove in as deep as he could was too much to resist. "I can't -: he gasped. "I can't -"

Tony reached around between them and wrapped his fingers around Steve's knot and squeezed.

"Oh _fuck,_ oh my god, Tony. I -" Steve thrust wildly until his orgasm crashed over him and he pressed forward, Tony's hand letting him push as hard as he wanted without risking Tony's safety with his knot. Tony's grip didn't slack, squeezing and releasing with the pulse of Steve's come as he filled Tony up. It was deeply, profoundly satisfying. Not quite the same as knotting an omega, but it was _Tony,_ trusting him and helping him, indulging him in this. Steve pressed his lips behind Tony's ear. "Thank you."

"I've got you," Tony murmured back.

They lay like that for a long time, until Steve's knot started to subside and Tony loosened his grip to let him slide back with a groan. "Wow. I - _nuh -"_

"Mmmm." Tony rolled over and nuzzled up on Steve's chest, scenting him over and over. "God I'm fucked out. That was amazing."

"Sorry, that must have been boring for you." Steve stroked gentle fingers up and down Tony's spine then realized that was something he used to do for Bucky during his heats to soothe him to sleep. Tony didn't seem to mind, though, so Steve kept going.

"Nah, I enjoy it. Prefer a little warning - I have knot sleeves I could have whipped out if I'd known - but I love it. Wish I could handle a knot all the way."

"Really?" Steve blinked down at him. "I don't even know what a knot sleeve is."

Tony chuckled. "I'll have to show you some time. And yeah, I love getting fucked. Don't you?"

"Well you're the only person I've done that with. I mean, I like that it makes you feel good? I don't think it particularly does anything for me, though. Not that it's bad!" Steve hastened to add. "Not sure I could come that way though."

"Hmmm." Tony rolled up to his hands then straddled Steve's waist, grinding down a little. "Guess I haven't been doing my job."

Steve laughed lightly. "I'm too wiped out to feel anything right now."

"Fair enough. Next time."

"Next time?"

"Yeah. Which can be any time." Tony gave him a significant look.

"Okay." Steve pulled Tony down and kissed him. "Next time."

**

Next time wasn't far away. Steve shot Tony a look after a movie with the team and when they both stepped into the elevator after, Tony only hit the button for the penthouse. "This time," Tony murmured against Steve's lips where he was busy licking away popcorn butter and salt. "This time I'm going to show you how good it feels to have a cock deep inside you."

"Christ, Tony," Steve breathed.

Tony led them to the bedroom and while Steve stripped down he took lube and a ribbed knot sleeve out of the drawer and tossed them on the bed. Steve shuffled up towards the pillow and picked up the sleeve. "What's this?"

"I'll show you." Tony dropped his clothes on the floor and crawled up between Steve's knees. "But first you need to be hard."

"Pretty close already," Steve muttered, but he didn't protest when Tony took him in hand and started stroking. When Steve's cock was firm in his hand, Tony grabbed the sleeve, put a little lube on the inside and stretched it wide. He slid it down over Steve's cock and settled it around the bulge of his knot, making sure the bottom cupped underneath and there were no wrinkles or creases. "Oh," Steve said, cheeks flushing pink. "That feels really good."

"It's going to feel even better when you pop," Tony said. "Get on your hands and knees." Tony emphasized his words by giving Steve's knee a light slap.

Steve didn't move. He frowned. "Tony…"

"I'm not making fun of you, I promise. It's the best way to do this. I am going to blow your mind, Steve Rogers, but I need you to trust me."

Steve's voice dropped soft and low when he said, "Okay." He rolled over onto his front then pushed up to his hands and knees.

Tony settled behind him and ran his palm down Steve's spine then over the curve of his ass. He really did look like he was carved out of marble. The supersoldier serum truly was incredible. He parted Steve's ass and ran his thumb down between his cheeks and over his hole, teasing lightly. Steve's cock twitched where it hung below his belly, and Tony smiled. Steve was going to love this.

Tony teased him with his fingers for a while, petting over his hole then down the sensitive skin to his balls. He rolled them gently in his hands then tugged on Steve's cock again. He was rock hard now, his pre-knot filling out the sleeve nicely where it hugged him tight. When Steve's breath was rough and unsteady, Tony bent down and licked a stripe over his hole.

"Christ!" Steve swore, his whole body jerking. "Oh my god."

"Relax." Tony soothed him with a hand on his hip. "If you sit back too fast you're going to break my fucking nose."

Steve snorted out a laugh, but he also rocked forward and folded down on his elbows, legs spread wide. Tony licked again, grinning at the shuddery moan it pushed out of Steve. His skin was spiced and heavy with alpha scent. It smelled like a challenge - alphas were supposed to smell like a challenge for mates, but Tony supposed he'd always been wired a bit wrong since he never took it that way. It was still definitely a fucking challenge though.

"I can't believe you don't know how good this feels," Tony mused, slicking up the fingers of one hand, the other resting on Steve's hip. "I'm going to make you knot the air. You're going to be begging to come on my cock."

"Fuck."

Steve sounded like he was already three steps closer to losing his mind than Tony had ever heard him. He pressed his slicked up fingertip to Steve's hole and watched it relax to let him in. He pressed in tortuously slowly, so slowly that Steve's arms started shaking and his hole flexed and clenched around Tony's finger. "You're so hot and tight, Steve. An alpha is nothing like an omega. Omegas are all slick and soft and gentle. Alphas are like fire - vice grips - fuck, I can't wait to be inside you."

"Then hurry up," Steve growled into the pillow, but Tony only chuckled.

He worked his finger in deeper and stroked Steve's insides until he found his prostate. Steve jerked and moaned and his cock leaked a stream of sticky precome onto the sheets. Tony followed that finger quickly with a second, but then he just pressed the two in deep then pulled out again, over and over, rubbing over Steve's prostate with every thrust of his hand. Steve slowly started to give, relaxing, drawing Tony's fingers in each time. Tony added more lube and set to work again, bending down to kiss and nip his way over the curve of Steve's ass. His free hand wandered down Steve's thigh, fingertips dipping into the curves of his tense muscles.

Steve started stuttered out a broken little moan with every rock back and Tony reached between his legs and let Steve's cock rub lightly along his palm. Steve was soaking wet, dripping almost continuously onto the bed and his pre-knot was starting to grow in the sleeve. "Oh, Tony, come on. Stop teasing me, please?"

The please shot straight to Tony's cock and hardened it the last little bit until he was straining in his pants. Apparently, Captain America begging on his knees was quite nearly an express pass to instant orgasm. "Only cause you asked so nicely," he said, coming out more breathlessly than he intended. He pulled his pants and underwear off and dropped them off the side of the bed. Steve's ass was up in the air, presenting to him like an omega, his hole pink and slick and eager.

Tony stroked more lube over his cock then flopped down on the bed next to Steve. Steve blinked at him. "What?"

Tony patted his thighs. "Come here. You trust me right?"

"Yeah…" Steve pushed up off his elbows then shifted over to straddle Tony's thighs. Tony grabbed his hips and eased him forward until he was lined up.

"This way you can control the speed. Only move when it feels good. Once you're adjusted, I'm going to fuck your brains out."

Steve rolled his eyes, but he bit his lip at the same time. "How can you say things like that?"

"Because I really, really, like what it does to your pale skin." Tony stroked his non-lube covered fingers over Steve's cheeks and then down his neck to his shoulders where they glowed pink. He dropped the hand to Steve's hip then held his cock with the other. "Sit down slowly."

Steve shifted down, looking a combination of awkward and aroused beyond belief. When the head of Tony's cock first pressed against his hole, he hesitated, but Tony put a little pressure on his hip and he started moving again. God, he was unbearably hot and tight. Tony's cockhead popped through the ring of muscle and they groaned in unison. He kept sliding down, slow but steady, until his ass hit Tony's legs. They hung there for a moment, Tony buried knot-deep in Steve's ass, Steve's muscles rippling and clenching around him.

Tony usually had no trouble keeping himself from popping when he was with another alpha. It only took one mistake to learn how to hold it back, but Steve had never learned and the sight of his knot blowing out the sleeve, his cock hard and weeping, and all because he was sitting on Tony's cock? It was almost too much. "Move when you're ready," Tony gasped out, hoping and praying that Steve was ready because his body was screaming for friction.

Steve pushed up a little, just an inch or so, then sat down again. Next time was a little higher, and Tony could feel the angle shift, his cock rubbing over Steve's prostate. That kicked Steve into high gear, rolling and rocking on Tony's cock. When he couldn't seem to get all the way up and down, he kicked his hips back and forth sharply, squeezing down around Tony's cock.

"Holy shit, you feel incredible, Steve, oh my god."

Steve could only answer with a moan.

"Okay, okay. Let me - here." Tony urged Steve off him and back onto the bed. Tony slipped off onto his feet and pulled at Steve's hips until he stepped down, his feet on the floor, hands braced on the mattress. Tony pushed back inside, using his hands to pull Steve's ass apart so he could watch his cock disappearing into his hole.

Steve was fully into it now. The hesitation of last time was completely gone, replaced with a litany of blasphemous moans and stuttered out begging. Tony gave in to every one of his demands, going deeper, harder, faster, until Steve was sweaty and shaking, pumping the room full of enough heady spice that Tony had a fleeting concern for the other alphas in the tower. Now, Steve smelled like a challenge about to be met, and that sung through Tony's blood, pumping him harder and throbbing into the base of his cock where his knot was.

Tony reached around and ran his hand down Steve's cock. His knot was almost full blown in the sleeve. "God, yeah, Steve, you gonna knot the air? I can't wait to feel you come around me."

Steve made a noise caught somewhere between a whimper and growl and started rocking his hips back to meet Tony's thrusts with a wet slap. All at once, Tony wasn't sure he was going to make it. Steve was close, but the edge that had seemed far away for him was rapidly approaching, ready to slam into him too, and Tony dug his fingertips into Steve's skin, teeth gritted, eyes fixed on the place where he disappeared into Steve's body. He willed himself to hold off just a little longer.

And then Steve cried out and crumpled down onto the mattress, legs shaking, his body clenching around Tony as if desperate to bring him along with him. He shuddered as he came, and Tony bent over him to watch his cock jerk wave after wave of come out into the air. It splattered on the floor and sheets. Steve's knot was fully hard and the sleeve nursed it perfectly, stretched tight around the bulge.

Steve shook and whined, but he still pushed his hips back against Tony's. "Don't stop. Need you to - please."

Yeah, baby." Tony didn't need to be told twice. He set to pumping deep and hard into Steve again, alighting his every nerve and rocketing him towards his own orgasm. Steve kept milking his cock with clenches of his superpowered muscles as the aftershocks rolled through him and refused to stop. Orgasm slammed into him, and Tony pressed deep into Steve then pulled back to watch the last few spurts of come slide free and drip down his perineum towards his balls. Tony stretched Steve's ass apart to admire his dripping hole.

Steve groaned and crawled forward, up onto the bed until he was flopped across it sideways, no doubt making even more of a mess of the sheets. Tony let himself fall beside him, one hand landing on Steve's ass and holding a handful. "So did I win the bet?"

"There was never a bet, Tony."

"Kinda felt like there was a bet."

Steve rolled over and found Tony's eyes. He looked like he would look amused, if he weren't so fucked out that his eyes were still rolling loosely in his head. "Yeah okay, you won the bet."

Tony laughed and clapped his hands together. "What do I win?"

"You win the absolute pleasure of getting me a soda and granola bar because I can't move. Probably for a day or two."

Tony laughed again the rolled over to press up against Steve, touching the tips of their noses together. "You asking me to stay the night, Rogers?" Tony asked, making it a joke. But as he said it, he realized he didn't really want it to be a joke at all.

Thankfully, Steve saw it for what it was. "Yes."

"Okay."

**

Steve jerked awake, hands grasping for something that was gone.

"Uh?" Tony mumbled into his pillow. "Stee-?"

"Sorry." Steve's throat was raw and achy. "Sorry." His eyes heated, threatening to spill tears down his cheeks.

Tony's warmth pressed up against his side. "You okay?"

"I didn't mean to wake you up."' Steve turned his face into Tony's hair and pressed a kiss there. "Go back to sleep."

But Tony was pushing himself up onto his elbow instead. He cupped Steve's cheek. "What's wrong?"

Steve's throat tightened and he opened and closed his mouth a few times before he was able to croak out, "I really miss him sometimes."

"Shit." Tony folded down over Steve's chest. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. Thanks for being here."

Tony muttered something incomprehensible into Steve's neck. They'd been sleeping together for a few weeks, and sleeping together figuratively had lead to sleeping together literally, more nights than not. It was still quiet and casual and simple, but Tony was rapidly becoming one of Steve's best friends, and it was getting easier and easier to talk about his past - his family, the war, Bucky. If he could get Tony quiet long enough to get a word in edgeways, he was a good listener. Steve smiled at the affectionate thought. "Just a dream. Go back to sleep."

"Sure you don't need anything?" Tony rolled his hips teasingly.

"Nah. Just -"

"Yeah?"

"Can you be here when I wake up? I don't think I can handle waking up and thinking you were a dream too."

"Sure." Tony twisted up into a deep kiss then settled back down again. "I'll be here."

**

Tony traced idle patterns across Steve's chest with one finger. Lazy morning sex had turned into a lazy morning which had turned into a lazy afternoon and was threatening the evening too. "We should get up."

"Yeah…" Steve petted through Tony's hair, winding the strands around his fingers.

"So -" Tony cut himself off

"Yeah?" Steve cracked an eye.

"So, like. So how would you feel about this, you know, being more -" He cleared his throat. "We could - oh fuck it." Tony leaned up and pressed his lips to Steve's. It was gentle and sweet, so different from their usual kisses, and he could feel the moment when Steve figured out what he was trying to say. Tony pulled back and their eyes met. Steve's were wide with something verging on wonder. "We could make this a thing. A serious thing."

"Tony," Steve breathed. But then Steve's face twisted up, and Tony resisted an urge to flinch back. Guess he'd been reading too much into this.

"Or not."

"No! No, it's not that. I'm - I - I just…" Steve took a shaky breath. "I haven't been with anyone seriously since Bucky.  I - I don't know how to -."

"Oh, right." Tony stilled then dropped his chin down to Steve's chest. "I understand."

Steve tugged him a little closer, holding like he was afraid Tony would disappear too. "It's not that I don't want it. It's just a bit scary."

"Well, hey, if you're not ready, I can -"

"I've never going to be readier."

"Ah. Well, I guess we can just -"

Steve snorted, cutting Tony off. "I didn't mean it like that, Tony. I meant I need to just jump into this and stop hiding. I really like you." He stroked his thumb along Tony's jawline. "I want you to be mine. It's scary, but it's what I want."

Tony kissed him again, light and sweet, then smiled. "Then I'm yours."

"That easy?"

"Oh, baby, you know I'm that easy first hand."

Steve laughed, and he didn't seem able to stop. He rolled Tony over and smothered him in hot kisses, drawing a line down his chest that ended in his mouth around Tony's cock. It was a long, long time before they made it out of bed.

**

Dating Tony Stark was a whirlwind. Every time Steve was sure they'd run out of kinky things to do, Tony would show up at his door with a new suggestion. And it wasn't just that. They had a truly astonishing amount of sex, but to Steve's mild surprise, Tony was pretty good at the romantic stuff too. He liked announcing at random that they were going out somewhere special for dinner and whisk Steve away. Steve still felt awkward, being out with an alpha in public, but no one else seemed to mind, and Tony always chose restaurants with plush booths in dark corners.

Tony told the others with little fanfare, then started sitting up against Steve or in his lap or with their hands wound together whenever he got the chance. It was more domestic than Steve ever could have imagined with someone like Tony, and more comfortable than he thought would have been possible with another alpha.

It wasn't all perfect. Tony could be brash and touchy sometimes. They still argued, they still rubbed each other the wrong way, but now they could rub each other the right way to make up for it, and Steve found that it was an ideal arrangement.

He still missed Bucky. He missed the homey sweetness of Buck's scent, he missed the way his omega would curl up against him, and the blinding heat of his body. He missed the easy rhythm of their relationship. After so many years of friendship, he could practically read Bucky's mind. Tony… he never knew what Tony was thinking. It was both frustrating and thrilling, and nothing Steve had ever experienced in his life before.

"Hey, honey, do you know where the - whoa." Steve cut himself off when Tony stepped around the corner of their bedroom wall and backed Steve up against the door.

"Want to see a trick?" Tony asked with a grin.

The question shot straight to Steve's cock, and he pulled Tony up against his chest and worked his hands down the back of his pants to grab two handfuls of his perfect ass. "Always."

Tony let himself be manhandled for longer than usual, which should have been Steve's first warning. Tony worked his hands between them and popped Steve's button open. "Come on." He pulled back, and Steve moved with him. Instead of pushing him down on the bed, Tony shoved him towards a chair in the corner then dropped his pants. He grabbed something from the dresser and climbed into Steve's lap.

"Got us something online."

"Tony…" Steve bit his lip against a gasp as Tony pulled his cock out and stroked it hard. He took out a bottle and popped the top. The sweet smell of omega filled the room. It didn't smell like Bucky - it lacked the individual edge of a real omega - but the general sweetness was both comforting and arousing.

"Scented lube." Tony winked and let it drizzle down over Steve's cock. It was warm and slick.

"Shit, Tony."

"Ahh, babe. That's not even the surprise."

Tony pulled out a clear jelly-looking tube. A sleeve. They had others, Steve was particularly fond of the ones that fit just over his knot while he slid inside Tony, but for Tony to make a big deal out of this one, it must have something special about it. Tony added more lube to the sleeve then slid it down over Steve length, squeezing with his hand and sinking the soft, slick nubs down slowly. Steve moaned and resisted the urge to thrust up into it and risk knocking Tony off his lap.

Tony covered the hole at the top with his thumb and tugged, teasing Steve with the suction.

"That feels so good." Steve gripped Tony's thighs and squeezed until he groaned too.

"Okay, here we go." Tony stroked his lube covered hand down his own cock then pulled up on the sleeve. He lined their cocks up side by side and when he slid the sleeve down again, they were both inside.

The heat and pressure of Tony's cock pressed against his had Steve nearly insensible instantly. "Oh my god." He could feel every inch of Tony, squeezed tight against his, and when he stroked the sleeve down and back up again the friction was heavenly. "Oh, Tony."

"Yeah, baby." Tony bent forward to murmur in his ear. "You feel so good. We're going to knot this sleeve together. I want to feel you come all pressed up against me." Tony petted his thumb under Steve's nose, and he realized he'd left a streak of the scented lube across his skin. He was hit with the sugary sweetness of omega and his knot started to swell at the base of his cock. The sleeve was clearly made for it, because when Tony stroked down, the slight bulge of Steve's knot slipped inside easily, slick heat squeezing it and making his whole cock throb with need.

Tony sped up, rocking a little in Steve's lap so the sleeve sucked them down, but their cocks rubbed together in an alternate rhythm. Everything was so warm and close and tight. Steve's eyes kept squeezing closed of their own accord, but he forced them open again, wanting to see Tony's face as he came. And he was close, Steve could tell.

"You gonna come, sweetheart?" Steve whispered roughly, letting his hips jerk up and down on the chair. "I wanna feel your knot." He could feel it already. Tony was swelling, pressed up next to him. It was such a treat for Tony to knot - he did it so rarely - and Steve knew that as soon as Tony came, he'd be tipping over with him. When Tony's rhythm with the sleeve faltered, Steve added his hand and his strength.

They were both swelling now, the pressure immense, so Steve slid the sleeve all the way down over both their knots and jerked it short and sharp, small rapid movements that kept their knots wrapped up tight.

"Oh shit," Tony moaned. "I'm not gonna last - oh fuck. Yeah Steve, just a little faster. I'm -" Tony's whole body clenched up and then he shuddered from head to toe. His knot bulged out impossibly larger and Steve could feel the throb of his cock pressed up against his. Slick heat flooded the inside of the sleeve as Tony pulsed come over both of them. "Oh my god, it's not going to stop," Tony moaned, his head falling forward onto Steve's shoulder. He kept coming, the sleeve knotted up tight, and the heat and pressure and, god, everything, rocketed Steve over the edge with him.

Steve's knot swelled until he couldn't move the sleeve anymore, locked down around both of them with exquisite pressure. Being fully encased was a thousand times better than the knot sleeves alone, and being squeezed up tight with Tony was making Steve feel a bit crazy, overcome with heat and affection and satisfaction. His cock pulsed almost as long as Tony's, pumping the sleeve so full that their mixed come leaked out, pooling down where they were pressed together.

Tony slumped his full weight over Steve's chest, and Steve held him close, scenting his neck and his hair and petting his back. _Mine, mine, mine._ "Thank you," he murmured.

"My pleasure," Tony slurred.

"This is amazing." They were still snuggled up together, held close, and it was like getting to knot Tony, but also having an omega at the same time. And while that didn't exactly make a lot of sense, it was wonderful.

"Good trick?" Tony said with a chuckle.

"Amazing trick."

"Gonna be here for a while. Hope that's okay."

"That's perfect." Steve settled back in the chair and wriggled Tony around until they were both comfortable. He closed his eyes and sunk into the warmth and togetherness, Tony's scent tickling his nose as it mixed with the gentle sweetness of distant omega.

**

The ice always receded too slowly. The technicians said it didn't damage him, but he felt the cells healing as he woke, nerves aching and firing off at random as they came back online. There was a difference between intermediate damage and long-term damage.

He had learned about machines, knew he was one, a tool, but the first raggedy breath out of the cryo chamber was always when he felt closest to being human again.

He'd been human once. Of that he was sure. Had a name, maybe even a… number. But now he was a tool, human carved out and metal poured in. He would serve.

He blinked awake, the frost melting off his lungs and dripping down into his stomach.

The Handler smiled. "We have a mission for you."

**

"I don't want you to go," Tony said petulantly, nuzzling up under Steve's chin. Steve pushed him away earning a growl. He growled back and that made Tony grin, predatory. He advanced.

"Don't you dare. I'm supposed to be packing." But Steve's breath was already coming short and sharp and that heat in Tony's eyes was impossible to resist. He caught Tony in his arms and kissed him rough and needy, wrestling to get Tony under his control. But Tony wouldn't give. He nipped back and ground hard up against Steve's thigh. It was a stronger hit of adrenaline than charging into battle. Tony could set Steve's whole body ablaze in an instant, make him feel used and owned and reckless all at the same time. And Tony belonged to him, too, he could feel that thrumming deep down where a bond would go: ownership. He could still feel Bucky settled there too, not replaced but soft and dormant, a sweet memory. Tony had found a way to nestle in beside.

"I'm going to be so late," Steve panted, sitting back hard on the bed and drawing Tony up into his lap. "So late."

Tony rolled his hips until Steve was hard and straining in his pants. "I want you to be late. I want you to be late and covered in my bite marks so everyone in D.C. knows who you belong to. Fuck."

"God, Tony. You feel so good. I love you."

They both froze.

"You do?" Tony asked, hands dropping down to his thighs as he sat back on Steve's knees.

Steve opened and closed his mouth.

"Nevermind." Tony laughed, shaking his head. "Heat of the moment. Where were we?" He tried to plunge in towards Steve's neck, but Steve caught him and forced him back until their eyes met.

"No. It wasn't heat of the moment. I do. I do love you. I think I've loved you for a while now."

Tony's eyes went wide then softened and he smiled - not the shark-like grin of lust, but a soft, sweet smile that crinkled up the corners of his eyes and made them twinkle. "Oh, good. I love you too."

They smiled stupidly at each other for a while then Tony's eyebrow cocked up. "Okay, now you're going to be really fucking late." He shoved Steve flat onto his back then started pulling at the button of his jeans.

Steve was so late he got a stern talking to when he arrived in D.C., but he didn't care. Tony loved him.

**

"The man on the bridge..." Blond, blue eyes, shoulders, the way he _smelled._ "Who was he?"

"You met him earlier this week on another assignment," the Handler said.

"I - I knew him."

The Handler sat down, leaned in close. "Your work has been a gift to mankind. You shaped the century, and I need you to do it one more time. Society is at a tipping point between order and chaos. Tomorrow morning we're gonna give it a push. But, if you don't do your part, I can't do mine, and HYDRA can't give the world the freedom it deserves."

Strong hands, soft touch. Cool, soothing skin. That _smell._ "But I knew him."

The Handler stood, turned away. "Prep him."

He learned a long time ago that refusing the guard only meant pain. He opened his mouth and closed his eyes.

**

Steve swum out of unconsciousness, a jolt of panic pushing him closer and closer to the surface. It took him far too long to realize that the pressure on his chest wasn't his asthma returning, it was Tony, sprawled out over him, fast asleep.

The soft, distant beeping of medical equipment combined with the itch of tape on Steve's hand, and the stench of Tony's fear clogging up the room: hospital.

"T-nuh-" Steve managed around a cotton-wool tongue, but Tony didn't stir, dead to the world. Steve tried to move but his body was still too heavy. They must have pumped him full of a shocking amount of drugs to make him feel this loopy, and that must have meant it was bad. The last thing he remembered was falling, falling again, into water, stealing his breath -

He rewound back through the last few days, skipping and stuttering over everything that had happened. Tony - Tony didn't know. And Bucky was _alive -_

A hot tear leaked out of Steve's eye and he tried to wipe it away but his hand was too heavy and Tony was still asleep on top of him and he didn't want to wake him but he couldn't - couldn't -

Tony startled awake when Steve couldn't hold back a wet sob that shook chest. "Steve - oh baby, shhh. What's wrong? You're okay. I'm here. I've got you."

Steve shook his head. He didn't want to cry, but he couldn't seem to stop now, as if everything had been on hold, hovering over his head, and had just crashed down on top of him. "I'm sorry," he muttered.

Tony curled up on one hip and braced his hand over Steve's body, taking the pressure off his chest. He wiped tears away with his other hand. "Don't be sorry, love. They put enough crap in you to down a bull elephant. You must be feeling weird as fuck right now. Just let it out. I've got you. It's late. No one's going to come in."

Steve squeezed his eyes closed and let out a shaky breath. The hot panicky feeling was fading a bit, but deep, gripping sorrow flooded in in its place. "Bucky - he's alive," he choked out.

"I know."

"He - he - HYDRA - Tony they did so much. They were in SHIELD. They killed - they killed your parents."

"I know that too."

Steve's eyes startled open again. He found Tony looking down at him grimly, jaw set. "How?"

"Natasha told me."

"Oh." Steve tried to swallow but his throat was dry and scratchy and there was a huge lump in it.

Tony sat up a little more and reached for the bedside table. He came back with a cup of water. "Natasha called me and told me you were in the fucking hospital. I came as soon as I could. I made her tell me everything. Don't think that just because I love you and I'm really grateful you're okay, that you're not in deep, deep trouble for trying to handle all this on your own."

Steve opened his mouth to inform Tony that he wasn't, actually, on his own, he had Natasha and Sam, but he thought better of it, and instead bent to suck water from the straw Tony offered him. "I love you too," he tried weakly, when he'd drained the cup, and Tony shook his head, smiling.

"You idiot. I'm so mad." But he bent down and pressed his lips softly to Steve's. "Feeling any better?"

Steve nodded. The weird heavy feeling was starting to fade, and he twitched his fingers up, groaning at the ache and pull of damaged-but-healed muscles, fresh and sore. He managed to get his hand on Tony's thigh and he squeezed. "I'm sorry."

Tony's smile dropped away. "Is he still in there? Your Bucky?"

"Yes." Steve nodded. "I know he is. I'm still here. He saved my life. So he's still in there."

"Okay, alright. Then we get him out, get him back."

"Tony -"

"Uh-uh. You're exhausted and hurt and healing. You need to rest. Don't worry, we can have so many awful talks later, but right now, I'm here and I love you, and I'm not going to let the world end while you're getting better, so you sleep. And when you wake up there will be tiny cups of applesauce, and Natasha and Sam will be here, and it'll be sunny, and we can pack you up and take you home, okay?"

It all sounded so appealing, too appealing.  Steve tried to access the stress he knew he should feel, but his brain was going fuzzy again. "Okay…"

"Okay. Good. First and only time you're going to do what I say. Lovely." Tony kissed him again then snuggled back down on the bed, stretched out long at Steve's side. He pressed his face into Steve's chest and breathed in.

Steve turned so Tony's hair tickled his chin and breathed in too. Tony's scent - spicy and warm, close and _family -_ was exactly what Steve needed. He drifted off.

**

Sending his boyfriend off to reunite with his ex wasn't an easy decision for Tony to make, but at least it was a simple one. Steve said Bucky was still in there somewhere, and Tony had to believe him. And if he believed him, he couldn't sit idly by and do nothing when there was a chance he could help.

He'd started building BARF a long time ago, trying to find a way to work through his own painful memories, but it hadn't helped. Now, though, it could prove to be exactly what Bucky needed to shake off the brainwashing that had undone him for over seventy years.

A cruel, sneaky, devilish voice whispered in his ear that maybe he didn't want that. Maybe if he wanted to keep Steve for himself, Bucky was better off trapped inside the Winter Soldier. But even as the thought passed unbidden through his mind, he cringed away from it. Wasn't it enough that Tony had taken Bucky's bondmate? Sure, he and Steve loved each other, sure they were committed, but Steve and Bucky had been together for _years._ They were bound, and no amount of being apart was going to fade that completely. If Tony had been an omega, maybe, maybe their bond would have taken over Steve's past, but two alphas couldn't bond.

There was a lot Tony couldn't give Steve. He couldn't take his knot, couldn't go into heat. They were rough and growly and hard on each other. He couldn't be the soft sweetness he knew Steve loved about omegas. But Bucky was all of those things.

And maybe Steve would see Bucky again and it would all come rushing back and he would tell Tony it was over, that he was fun for a while, but Steve needed to go back to the man who was home to him. Maybe. But Tony couldn't let that stop him from helping, not when he could, not when HYDRA had taken so much from all of them already.

He set to work redesigning BARF.

**

Avengers Tower was the epitome of modern. Bucky hovered behind Steve in the elevator as they rode up. It was almost beyond belief that Howard Stark's son was putting Bucky up. Weirder still that Steve was dating him.

He'd revealed it right away, eyes skittering back and forth across Bucky's face as if looking for the pain, the judgement. But it didn't hurt. It was a profound relief to know that Steve hadn't been alone all this time.

The fact that Tony was an alpha was less of a surprise than Steve seemed to think it would be. Not after the way Steve's head had tilted to the side with a sigh whenever Peggy Carter left the room. What was odd was that no one seemed to care.

They didn't care enough about what Bucky had done, either, offering to help him, house him. He'd asked Steve in a shaky voice that first night, holed up in a hotel in Bucharest, "Does he know what I did?"

Steve had rolled over in the tiny bed they'd crammed into, until his breath was hot on Bucky's face. He smelled exactly the same as he had all those years ago, minty and fresh, even with the slight metallic tang of the serum underneath.

"He knows. He understands."

"I can't believe this can be over. I just can't."

"We're going to help you, Buck." Steve had pulled Bucky up against his chest and even though he knew he shouldn't, it was too easy to give in. He slept - really slept - for the first time since he'd fallen from the train.

Now, Steve motioned him into his own apartment. "This is your place."

"Wow." Bucky walked around, running his fingers over the smooth surfaces of the counters and tables. "It's incredible." It was bigger than anywhere he'd ever lived in his whole life. Probably all of them put together, actually.

They walked into the bedroom. Heavy curtains framed the huge window and a massive TV hung on the wall across from the bed. Bucky had only known rough cots and cryo and then dingy hotel rooms for so long. It was too beautiful to touch.

The sheets were oddly mussed, though, and when Bucky walked over to the bed, he caught a familiar scent. He smiled. "You sleep down here, Stevie?"

Steve blushed, and it made Bucky want to pet his thumb across his flushed cheek. "I thought it might help you settle in. If it smelled familiar. But if it bothers you, there's fresh sheets in the cupboard."

"No. No, it's good. Thank you. I was worried about that." Bucky bent down and breathed his pillow in then set it back down again. "Thank you."

When he did finally lay his head down, though, he didn't sleep. He closed his eyes and breathed in Steve's scent and tried to feel like he belonged here, but images flashed on the backs of his eyelids, hot, angry, red images - faces, fear, final breaths. He couldn't sleep.

The next day, Steve told him it was time to try Tony's machine, the one that would erase the brainwashing from his mind. That would stop him from feeling like a gun with the safety off.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Steve said, low enough that Tony wouldn't be able to hear.

Bucky nodded. He wasn't, really, but he couldn't remember the last time he had been okay, so he honestly wasn't sure what that would have felt like.

"They connected your trigger words to memories of yours, that's how they're tied into your brain," Tony explained. "They're all bad memories you wouldn't want to relive. They use that connection to trigger the soldier. This machine is going to make you relive those memories so they don't hold any power over you anymore and the words become meaningless. It's going to suck, but it won't hurt. Also, you're going to hear the first trigger word to access the memory. I know that's going to be really scary, but I promise, it'll only ever be one at a time, okay?"

"Okay."

"You know the first word?"

_Longing._

"Yes."

"Okay." Tony pulled out the headset - just a pair of glasses with cables attached to it. It didn't look like the machine the Handler would put him in, but when Tony settled the glasses over his eyes, it sure felt like it. He opened his mouth.

"Buck?"

"What?"

Steve made an odd noise. "Are you ready?"

Bucky licked his lips. Right. No mouth guard. Because this wasn't supposed to hurt so badly he might bite his own tongue off. "Yes."

"Okay." Tony's fingers ghosted at the back of his neck as he adjusted something, and Bucky suppressed a shudder.

Bucky's chair creaked, and he realized he was gripping the edge so hard it was threatening to crack.

"Hey, Bucky," Steve whispered, suddenly so close. His voice was low and soft and just for them. "I'm right here, okay?"

"Okay."

Steve peeled Bucky's hand off the chair and wound their fingers together.

"Gonna hurt you," Bucky muttered.

"Serum. You can't. Trust me."

Bucky squeezed, and Steve didn't flinch so he had to believe him.

"Here we go," Tony said. "It's going to be weird, but just go with it. I'll be making adjustments from here. If you feel like you're getting sick or it's too much, just say stop and I'll shut it down."

"Okay."

Something clicked behind Bucky's head and everything went dark. _Longing,_ a distant voice whispered, and Bucky jerked in his chair, knocked back eighty years to a tiny apartment in the depths of Brooklyn where two sick boys lay side by side and tried not to die.

Bucky was hot, so hot he felt like his skin was going to start cracking and peeling. Every muscle in his body ached, and the throbbing in his gut had long abandoned arousal and careened straight in pain. He was filled with this gaping, cramping emptiness that made him want to throw up. "Stevie…"

Steve was wrapped in so many blankets Bucky could barely see his face. His cheeks were ghostly pale with a tiny spot of bright pink high on each one, and the bed rattled with his shivering. They'd tried using Bucky's extreme body heat to warm him, but the smell was too much for both of them, cruelly enticing and impossible to ignore.

"I'm so sorry," Steve sobbed out for the hundredth time. His teeth rattled. "I should be taking care of you."

Bucky shifted closer on the bed, his sweaty skin dragging across the sheets, sticking and pulling. "Not your fault. Just need you to get better. I'll be okay." Every nerve in his body screamed to be closer to Steve to crawl in with him and _be connected._ He craved Steve inside him, his arms, his scent, his knot -

Steve coughed, wet and hacking, and a heaving breaths in after said he wasn't getting enough oxygen. Bucky turned away to hide the fear in his expression. His heat was nothing - he could get through that alone. But if Steve didn't make it…

He'd spent all his money on medicine but it didn't seem to be working. Steve couldn't eat, couldn't move, couldn't stop shaking. Bucky reached out and ran his knuckle along Steve's cheekbone, in even sharper relief than usual after four days with hardly any food.

Eventually, Steve drifted off to sleep, but Bucky couldn't, alternating between cramps so painful he thought his stomach might be rotting from the inside out, to fear so palpable he had to put his hand next to Steve's mouth to feel the soft, stuttery exhale of each breath on his overheated palm.

If Steve could just keep waking up, keep breathing, Bucky could make it through this heat. That was all he needed.

_Just keep breathing, just keep breathing, just keep breathing -_

Bucky sucked in a sharp breath  and shivered as the room suddenly felt ice cold. The heat was gone from his skin and he could feel the pull of the metal weight on his left instead of the scratch of Steve's cheap sheets.

"What?" he gasped out. The glasses disappeared from his face. He was in Tony's workshop in Avengers Tower. And Steve - perfect, whole, strong Steve - was looking at him with deep concern. "You didn't die," Bucky croaked.

Steve took his hand again and squeezed. "You okay?"

Bucky blinked around at the room. "Where's Tony?"

"He stepped out to give us a moment."

"Oh. It wasn't -?" Bucky could feel Steve's small body pressed up against his own. He wondered what Tony had seen.

"No. He's okay. He just thought you might need, you know." Steve squeezed Bucky's knee then reached up slowly with one hand, telegraphing his movements. His wiped his thumb over Bucky's cheek, and a tear smeared along his skin.

Bucky caught his hand and looked down at the wet mark with awe. "I didn't know I could still do that."

"Oh, Buck. You're still you. I know you're all still in there." Steve tugged him forward into a hug, and Bucky let himself be held, burrowing his face into Steve's neck and finding the familiar cool spice of his scent. He smelled like home, like safety. Like love.

Love lost, but not completely gone, and he finally felt like the weight was starting to lift from his shoulders. _Longing_ was weakening its hold over him.

**

"Natasha said Bucky came down to watch a movie the other day."

Steve paused where he was chopping vegetables. There was something tight in Tony's voice. "Yeah. It was really good. The BARF glasses - and I still think that's an awful name - are helping a lot. He's making so much progress. Nightmares are almost gone."

"Good. That's good." Tony paused heavily, and Steve waited, rocking the knife through a red pepper. "So," Tony went on, and Steve braced himself. He didn't like that tone of voice. "You'd tell me, right? If you wanted to break up with me and go back to Bucky. You'd tell me that. So I wouldn't be sitting here like an idiot in between two people who could make each other properly happy, just because you're not willing to start the conversation."

Steve set the knife down. He turned to find Tony turning his phone anxiously through his hands. "I would. I would tell you that."

"Cause I can deal with the pain, Steve, but the uncertainty is kind of killing me."

"I didn't know you were uncertain." Steve grabbed a handful of Tony's shirt and pulled him close. "I'm not uncertain at all. I love you. Bucky is going to be a part of my life, not just because he's my best friend and I care about him, but because I owe him this. I'm the only person who can bring him back. That's not up for negotiation. But I love you and you're my partner, my boyfriend, and I don't want that to change."

Tony hissed out a breath between his teeth. "Okay. Good. I don't want that to change either. And I know Bucky's going to be a part of your life. I'm okay with that. I want to see him get better. They used the Winter Soldier to kill my family, I want to kill the Winter Soldier and take their favourite tool away. Maybe that's not quite as noble as your reasoning, but eh -" Tony shrugged. "I'm trying."

"You're amazing, Tony, really." Steve kissed his forehead. "I couldn't ask for more. You've saved his life. And the lives of all the people they would have made him hurt."

Tony burrowed into his chest. "God you smell gross."

Steve barked out a laugh then shoved at Tony's shoulder. "It's your fault! You're making me feel all… bondy." He was leaking the pheremones that would make an omega want to form a bond, mate for life. It had little effect on another alpha, but "Isn't it the thought that counts?"

Tony laughed then dove back in, breathing Steve in deeply then kissing his way up the column of his throat. "Yeah. It's a nice thought. I'd bond with you if I could."

Steve kissed him again. "As good as bonded already, Tony. I'm not going anywhere."

Tony didn't say anything else, but he stayed close beside Steve while he finished preparing dinner, tucking up against his back and resting his face between his shoulder blades.

**

Bucky woke up drenched in sweat. He threw the covers off, but his skin was throbbing hot from a fire deep in his core that hadn't flickered to life in so long he could barely remember what it felt like. He was going into heat.

Steve.

It was all he could think. Steve was the only one who had ever helped him through his heat, tentative and small the first time, gaining confidence over the years. Bucky's last heat had been in a tent during the war. Steve had pinned him down and eased him through it, whispering soft promises in his ear, what they were going to do when they went home.

Bucky hadn't gone home. And he hadn't had another heat since.

Not until now. The brainwashing that Tony's machine had erased seemed to have kickstarted his biology again as well. Bucky shifted, trying to find a place on the bed where he didn't stick to the sheets, but he was too hot. It would be another day or so before he needed to be knotted so badly it would hurt without it, but the anticipation of that feeling was heavy inside him. He needed Steve.

Bucky stumbled to his feet, and found his way to his bathroom. He splashed cool water on his face and sighed with relief, but it didn't last long before his fire-hot skin warmed the water too and left him burning again.

_Steve._

Bucky found the elevator. "Steve's floor, please," he muttered, and it started to move. He opened the door to the penthouse without even thinking, stumbling through to the bedroom where he stopped short. Steve was in bed, but he wasn't alone. Tony. Bucky had forgotten about Tony.

Steve wasn't his anymore; Steve couldn't help him anymore. He belonged to someone else, and Bucky was alone.

A broken noise clawed its way out of Bucky's throat but he swallowed heavily and turned to go, freezing when the bed creaked with movement. He waited while Steve's soft footsteps padded across the floor.

"Buck?" Steve shut the bedroom door behind him and lifted Bucky's chin with one finger. "Are you - oh." Steve's nostrils flared. "Really?"

Bucky nodded. "Not since the train, the fall. This is the first one. I don't know if it was the BARF thing or - or -"

"Or being around me again."

"Yeah…"

"Okay." Steve ran a stressy hand through his hair.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have come here." Bucky tipped his head towards the closed bedroom door, Steve's sleeping boyfriend just on the other side. The movement tipped Bucky closer to Steve and he breathed in heavily. God, he smelled so good, crisp and vibrant, like spearmint, exactly as Bucky remembered him. "You smell the same," he huffed out, tipping even closer. He just - he wanted.

"Buck," Steve said softly, and Bucky jerked back.

"Sorry."

"No. It's okay." Steve's hand found the back of his neck and squeezed gently, massaging the tension out of Bucky's spine. "Can you go upstairs and take a cold shower? Then see if you can get some sleep. It's going to hit hard, what? Tomorrow? Day after?"

"Tomorrow. Unless it's different because it's been so long."

"Okay. Go take a shower and get some sleep. Stay up there. There are too many alphas in this building, you'll have everyone fighting, the way you smell. I'll come up to check on you in a bit, okay?"

Bucky nodded. He turned to go, but Steve caught his wrist.

"I'm not going to leave you alone with this, Buck."

Bucky's heart clenched painfully. He'd already asked Steve to give up so much for him. "But what about Tony? It can't be like it used to be, Stevie, I know that."

"Just go take care of yourself, okay? I'm going to talk to Tony. We'll sort something out. But I'm going to help you, one way or another."

Bucky doubted that was possible. No one could share their alpha like that - although... Tony wasn't an omega, he was another alpha. Bucky had never seen an alpha couple before. Maybe it was different. The thought of those two alphas wound around each other, naked and hard, swirled through Bucky's mind and he coughed to cover the flush in his cheeks, turning towards the elevator. At least Steve knew now; at least Bucky had an excuse for disappearing for a few days. He'd been alone for so long. He could handle this alone too.

At least it meant he was human again.

**

"Sweetheart?"

Tony swam into consciousness to Steve's heavy hand on his hip. "Yuh? Everything okay?"

"It's Bucky," Steve said softly.

Tony sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He took a moment to reboot then looked at Steve expectantly.

"He's going into heat."

"Oh." It was harder than he'd thought it was going to be. He knew something like this would happen eventually. "Okay."

"Okay? That's it?" Steve looked honestly put out.

"What? What do you want me to say?" Tony tossed his arms wide then let his hands fall back to the bed. He took two handfuls of the sheets. Did Steve want something signed in triplicate? _I'll still be here waiting, even after you go sleep with your ex, Tony Stark._

"Well, I thought you might have some advice," Steve grumbled.

 _"Advice?_ Why would I -? You've done this more than I have. I'd rather not think about it, Jesus."

"Wait. What?" Steve blinked at him, annoyance melting into confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Bucky. He's going into heat. He needs help. He hasn't had a heat since the war."

"Yes, exactly. You need to help Bucky. I get it. I'll just… put on some loud music. See you in a few days…" Tony flopped backwards onto the bed. Maybe he could sleep right through it and wake up when it was over.

"What?! No! No, Tony, no. Shit. No. I didn't mean it like that. Oh my god. I would never cheat on you. You really think I'd do that?

Tony pushed back up on his elbow. "It's not cheating if you've told me about it and I agree."

"It's cheating to me. I love you. I'm with you now."

"Yeah, I get that. But you're still bonded to him."'

Steve's hand went to his chest and he rubbed his fingers over a spot where Tony suspected dog tags used to hang. "He died… I moved on. I fell in love. It happens Tony. I still love him and I care about him. I can still feel the bond, but it's quiet, sleepy. There's so much more of you in here. He's my best friend. I hope we can be best friends again, but I won't let you go. I can't." Steve reached out and tentatively cupped Tony's cheek. "I don't only love you on the condition that he's not here. You were never a replacement, never a rebound. I promise."

Tony covered Steve's hand with his own. He could feel the truth in his words, feel the little ball of warmth that settled low in his core, where he'd feel a bond if they could do it properly. "Okay." He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Steve's lips. "Okay, I believe you. So what advice did you want then?"

"Something to help Bucky. Here in the future, is there, uh… are there toys?" Steve's cheeks pinked. "Or something. You have all this technology…"

"Oh. Hmm." Tony ran the options through his mind. "Okay, so it's not great. There are toys, but if Bucky hasn't had a heat in seventy years, I don't know if it's going to cut it. Most people use a matching service. It's sort of anonymous, one heat only stuff, though I know people who have found their bond through a service."

"A service… I don't think he's ready for that. A stranger? What if they do something he doesn't like and he lashes out? What about the arm?"

"Yeah… like I said, it's not great. A service wouldn't be safe for him or for the alpha. I could…" Tony coughed. "Uh, I could build something. But I don't have anything for an omega already made, and with Bucky's augmentations… I don't know if the stuff you can get next-day shipping on is going to help much. Better than nothing, though, I suppose."

"Yeah, okay." Steve's face fell. "I was hoping they might have invented something cool."

"Well, mostly what they invented was drugs. There are things you can take to safely suppress heat. But it's too late now. I can get them for him, but it won't kick in until next cycle. If you can smell it already, if he can feel it, it's happening. Maybe it'll be light because it's been so long?" Tony offered hopefully.

"Um." Steve's blush deepened an he shifted in a way that suggested the blood that wasn't in his cheeks was heading south. "I don't think it will be."

"Ah. That good, huh?"

"He smells _amazing."_ Steve stilled. "Sorry."

"No, no. I get it. I mean, I really do get it, Steve. I wasn't lying when I said I understood that you have to take care of him. Do I like the idea of you with someone else? No, of course not. Do I love that it's your ex who you still care about deeply? Not really. That's a bit rough. But I believe you when you say you love me. And I know it's possible to love more than one person at once. If he needs you, we can get through this." Tony took Steve's hand and wound their fingers together. "I trust you."

But Steve shook his head. "I just don't think I can do that. Thinking about what it must feel like for you… how I'd feel if you went off to be with someone else. Even if it meant nothing, that'd be hard enough, but it's Bucky, Tony. I do still love him. I can't lie and say that being with him like that again isn't going to mean something, it is. Not something that replaces what you and I have, but something."

"He's already suffered so much…"

"I know." Steve scrubbed his free hand over his face. "Maybe there's a doctor that can help. Maybe there's something unconventional they can give him to make it easier…" His voice broke. "I don't know."

Tony rolled a new thought around in his mind. It still had the potential to be devastating, but maybe… "What if I was there with you?"

Steve's head snapped up. "What?"

"What if I was there? For Bucky's heat. What if you helped him through it, but I was there? Then it wouldn't be like cheating on me. I wouldn't have to lie here wondering if you were falling in love again and forgetting all about me."

"Like… if you helped too?"

The thought suddenly took on a new edge that shot lightening down Tony's spine. "Um. Wow. I was mostly thinking I could just… watch. Bring you water, that kind of thing. I figure it'll already be hard enough for Bucky to accept another alpha there. But… I could keep you company while he sleeps, order food, hold your hand… Then you'd know we were okay. Then I'd know we were okay, too."

Steve's mouth opened and closed a few times. "God… Tony wow. You'd really do that for me?

"For both of you. Yes. I think it's the safest way to get him through his heat, and I think it'll be good for his recovery to have you there. And I think if I'm there too, you and I will be okay. I can't promise it won't be hard sometimes, that I won't get jealous, but just being involved in some way… not being shut out. I can do that."

Steve tipped forward, gathering Tony in his arms and clutching him close. "It'll just be this one time. We'll get drugs or something for next time. We can talk to him about it when he's back to himself. Tony?" Steve paused, and Tony met his eye cautiously. "Nothing I ever do with anyone else could ever make me love you less, okay?"

"Okay. I trust you." Tony kissed him sweetly, sucking his tangy spice in deep through his nose. "You'd better go talk to him about it now before he doesn't have a choice."

"Do you want to come with me?"

"No. I think you should present the idea to him alone. He'll feel more comfortable saying no if I'm not there. I don't want to force him into it."

"Okay." Steve kissed him again. "I love you."

"I love you too. Go!"

Steve tumbled out of bed and took off for the door. Tony lay there for a long time wondering if this was going to turn out to be the worst decision of his life.

**

Bucky hovered by the door to the bedroom. Tony had sat down on a stool by the kitchen island as soon as he'd come in, but Steve had stayed on the other end of the room, leaving an awkward amount of space between them. Bucky's body pulsed with heat, flooding his veins and making his body clench. He knew he was pumping the room full of his scent, but neither alpha was doing anything about it. He wasn't sure if this was going to be amazing or a disaster, but it was pretty much the only option he had.

"I - uh -" Steve started. Then he cut himself off and sighed. "I have to take a shower." He disappeared into the bathroom, leaving the harsh tang of stress behind.

"Shit." Bucky stared at the door as if Steve would reappear and scoop him into his arms.

"He's just freaking out a little. He'll be alright," Tony said, snapping Bucky's attention back to him. He'd almost forgotten Steve's boyfriend was here too.

Bucky resisted the urge to say, "I know," because this wasn't a competition, and if it were, Tony had already won. So instead he said, "It's okay. I can wait," and leaned back against the door.

"Come here." Tony held a hand out in his direction.

Bucky pushed himself away from the wall and crossed the room. When he got within arm's reach, Tony hooked the back of his neck and tugged him closer, closer, until his face was down, forehead touching Tony's shoulder. Bucky breathed in, and the fluttering anxiety in his stomach instantly calmed. Tony smelled like alpha, crisp and minty-fresh and bright. And calm and soothing too. He had more spice than Steve - peppermint instead of spearmint. Bucky's heart rate slowed. "Thank you," he muttered into the soft knit of Tony's sweater.

"This room is stinky enough with just Steve. Don't need to have you panicking too."

"I'm getting close," Bucky muttered. Close to the point where if Steve didn't come out of the shower, he was just going to mount Tony right there.

"I know. He's just psyching himself up."

Bucky breathed in Tony's comforting scent again. "I'm really sorry about this, by the way. I like you guys together. I don't want to fuck anything up."

"You're not." Tony's fingers drew steady circles on the back of Bucky's neck. "I love him too much to let you fuck anything up, okay?"

"Alright."

"And you don't have to hide your feelings."

"What?" Bucky's stomach clenched with fear again.

Tony sighed. "I know you guys love each other. At least, Steve still loves you, still feels the bond. I'm not here to make sure this is cold and emotionless and you don't show any affection for each other. I'm here because I know it's going to be the opposite and I'd rather see it than imagine it in my head. Steve's not going to be able to stop himself from loving you and if you feel the same way, I can't expect you to stop it either. All I'm asking is that you guys don't hide things from me. That's why I'm here."

"Oh." Bucky cleared his throat and stepped back a bit, but when Tony's fingers slipped away from his neck, he regretted it. "Thanks? I guess. It must be weird for you. But there's no one else I can go to. And yeah, I do still love him. But it's like a friend now. A best friend. And I appreciate you letting him help with this."

Tony snorted. "Well, okay, if you say so. But it's not friendly for him. So if that's really how you feel, be gentle with him. I think this is going to open up some old wounds he's not quite as ready to face as he thinks he is. That's also why I'm here." Tony's hand found Bucky's wrist and he squeezed once then let go. "Don't be nervous."

The bathroom door swung open, and Steve reappeared, skin flushed from a hot shower, wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants. He looked at them with the grim determination of a man about to slide down a steep hill in a shopping cart, with no helmet. "Let's do this."

Bucky shot a look at Tony and they both snorted out a laugh which made Steve frown and roll his eyes, but it broke the ice.

They all adjourned to the bedroom. Bucky had already put some water bottles and snacks on the bedside table earlier but he hadn't put too much thought into it. With two alphas in the room, surely he'd be taken care of.

Tony settled in a cushy armchair Bucky had shifted around to face the bed. It was comfortable enough that he could stay there for a while, and it had a good view of everything. If a good view of everything wasn't what Tony wanted, he could move it.

And really, Bucky had thought it would be weird to have someone else there, watching and judging, but it was starting to feel like a comfort. Steve was nervous, and so was Bucky, but Tony wasn't. He wouldn't let Steve or Bucky do anything he was comfortable with, so Bucky didn't have to spend his whole heat panicking that he was ruining Stevie's relationship. Plus it was kind of… balancing, somehow. Bucky and Steve hadn't always had the best time with Bucky's heats. Steve had been sick and frail before the war and Bucky had been constantly terrified he'd hurt him in the rush of the moment. And then Steve had gotten an alpha pass when Bucky had been drafted, but one look at him and they'd pushed him to the sidelines, helping with food and ammunitions instead of bootcamp. But Erskine had found him. During the war it had all been desperate - rough and quick and quiet so as not to bother the rest of the camp. Bucky's heat had been intermittent, under those circumstances, which had been a blessing, but it meant they hadn't had much time together.

This was going to be the first time in almost eighty years that they'd shared an entire heat, in a bed, with food and water. And the first time ever that Steve's lungs would let him last the whole four days.

Bucky sat on the edge of the bed and Steve sat next to him. God, but he was beautiful. He'd always been beautiful and it was like the serum had just projected him bigger - more Steve, more gorgeous to have and hold. Steve cupped his jaw gently then leaned in and scented him. Bucky's eyes fell closed as Steve's nose nudged up against his scent glands.

"You okay?" Steve whispered again his skin.

"Yeah. Yeah, Stevie, I'm okay." Bucky landed a hand on Steve's knee and squeezed.

"You're really close, aren't you?"

Bucky clenched his muscles and a rush of slick dripped down between his thighs. He laughed when Steve's eyes went wide. "Uh, yeah, we're well past the early stage and fully into the please now stage."

Steve cursed softly then urged Bucky back, up on the bed. His eyes flicked to Tony as he stripped down, and Bucky watched them share something silent but powerful between them. Another painful cramp had Bucky squeezing his eyes closed with a moan and then Steve was curling over him, settling between his legs and leaning down to press their foreheads together. His cock hung heavy between his legs, the heat-drenched room making his knot bulge already.

It was the same, but entirely different. Steve smelled the same - though there was a hint of something new under the usual nip of mint and Bucky wasn't sure if it was the future, or Tony - he looked the same, mostly, and Bucky's heat felt the same, if a bit stronger. The safety was new though, as was the king-sized bed and smooth cotton sheets.

"Just kiss him already," Tony said from his chair, laughter winding through his voice.

Steve huffed, but Bucky could see the smile curling up the corners of his lips. He dipped down and pressed his lips to Bucky's for the first time in almost a century. Bucky's body surged to life again, the bond singing deep in his core, seeking out a reconnection with his mate. Bucky tamped the feeling down even as he wrapped his legs around Steve's hips and pulled him closer.

Steve didn't break the kiss as he pressed his cock to Bucky's hot, aching hole. He was slick enough that it was an easy slide in, and it was like puzzle pieces snapping together - suddenly everything was right. Perfect. Simple. Bucky rocked his hips up, panting into Steve's mouth.

The pressure of Steve's knot was just the perfect side of too much, and he thrust shallowly a few times before easing his knot in and tugging it out again. The moan fell off Bucky's lips before he could stop it.

A noise from the side of the bed drew his attention back to Tony. He was sitting in the chair, hunched over a little, elbows resting on the armrests of the chair. At first, Bucky thought he was upset, but it became clear only a moment later that the distress on Tony's face was because he was tenting his pants so hard it must hurt.

Bucky wanted to tell him it was okay for him to take care of it, but Steve rocked deep again, the push of his knot dragging against Bucky's prostate and he forgot how to speak. The heat took over everything. It was nothing but panted breaths and sweaty skin and the perfect rightness of Steve filling him up.

When Steve knotted fully, throbbing inside Bucky as he came, Bucky came too, coating his own chest in come. Steve folded down over him, kissing him all over his face and licking up the splashes of come he could reach.

Bucky pulled desperate gasps of air into his lungs, the room spinning. He tried to stay awake, wanting to say something to Tony, to Steve, but the chemical rush of a first knot in heat always knocked him out completely. He blinked against the pull but the room was already fading.

"It's okay, Buck," Steve whispered against the curve of his ear. "You can sleep. I've got you."

Bucky slipped away.

**

Tony gripped the arm rests of the chair until it creaked. His cock was in agony, jammed up against his zipper, but he was worried if he tried to adjust it, he'd go off immediately. It wasn't that he wasn't jealous, he was, but the sight of Steve and Bucky together was undeniably hot, and the room was heavy with omega pheromones.

It was also easier than he thought to set the jealousy aside. Neither was doing this to hurt him, in fact, they'd both done everything they could to make him comfortable, and that meant a lot. Besides, a little of the jealousy was that they were both sticky and sated, and Tony was still hard as a rock and drowning in arousing scents. Even if Bucky hadn't been filling the room with everything tantalizing about heat, an aroused Steve was the best smell Tony knew.

Bucky fell asleep as soon as he got his first knot, and Steve rolled them over so they were on their sides, Bucky cuddled up against his chest, one leg hooked over Steve's hip. Steve looked over Bucky's shoulder and met Tony's gaze. "You okay?"

"I'm hard enough to pound nails, but other than that, yeah."

"Really?" If Steve's cheeks could have flushed any more than they already were, Tony had no doubt they would.

"Of course. Not only was that fucking smoking, but it smells like a goddamn heat-house in here."

Steve chuckled. "I'm glad that's the worst of your afflictions, Tony. Really, I'm so grateful." Steve glanced down at the sleeping Bucky. "I'll be free in a few more minutes but he probably won't wake up for half an hour. I could… uh… I could help you with that?" Steve dropped his gaze to Tony's crotch.

The thought made Tony's mouth water and his body clench. "Really? No, but - we shouldn't leave him alone here."

Steve patted the bed behind him. "Tony, you could raise a family in this bed. It's enormous."

"Won't he mind?"

Steve shook his head. "I asked him already."

"What?"

"When I asked him if he wanted to do this, I asked him what he was okay with - if he was okay with you joining in, or just being with me as well, and he said either was fine."

"Wait - either? Like - he'd be okay with me…?" Tony waved vaguely at Bucky, and Steve nodded.

He gestured behind him again, and Tony stood from his chair. He pulled his shirt off then tucked up in bed behind Steve. He pressed small kisses between Steve's shoulder blades, careful not to jostle Bucky's leg. "He - uh. I actually think -" Steve cut himself off.

"What?"

"Well, really you should ask him yourself, but he gave me the impression that having two alphas at once was kind of…. A thing. He'd like."

Tony coughed violently then slapped his hand over his mouth so as not to wake Bucky. _"Really?"_

Steve shrugged. "Sure. But like I said, you'll have to ask him. I know you said you were just here to observe, but…" Steve twisted his head around to meet Tony's eyes. "I certainly wouldn't complain if you wanted to join in."

Tony smiled at him then let his hands wander down the planes of Steve's body. "What do you want right now?"

"I want you to fill me up. I miss your hands. Get me ready and then when my knot goes down I want you to fuck me."

Tony licked between Steve's shoulder blades. He tasted like omega slick and sweat. "Yessir."

There was enough of Bucky's slick smeared between Steve's thighs that Tony only had to run his fingers along Steve's skin to coat them. He found Steve's hole and worked it open gently, trying to ignore how insistent his own arousal was. It didn't help that he knew Steve was still buried knot-deep in Bucky. He could feel the clenches of his muscles when another small wave of come was throbbed out. Before long he had two fingers deep inside him, milking his prostate to fill Bucky up more. "God, you feel amazing."

Steve tipped his head back until it was tucked under Tony's chin. "I love you."

Tony continued to work Steve open, massaging his prostate and letting his fingers tease up his perineum towards the base off his knot. After a few more minutes, Steve's knot softened enough that he was able to slip free of Bucky's hole. He kept the omega wrapped his arms, but canted his hips back, and Tony wasted no time slipping inside.

He was lava-hot and unbearably tight inside. Tony swore as he pushed deeper, unable to take his time and go slowly, but Steve didn't seem to want slow. He wriggled back and arched, taking as much of Tony as he could, as quickly as he could. They rocked together, Steve's omega still sleeping up against his chest as Tony plunged deep into his alpha over and over. He was panting and his throat was dry but he couldn't stop - it felt too good.

"Oh my god, yeah, that's the spot," Steve groaned out, and Tony gripped his hip hard, twisting Steve into just the right angle until they were both gasping in unison. Then Steve smacked a hand to Tony's side, stilling him. "Ah - oh god, it's too good, wait, wait. I can't come again yet."

But Steve was hard, so Tony rolled him on his back, making sure Bucky was still tucked up comfortably on the other side of the bed, and he straddled his hips. Steve's cock was coated in slick and come and he stroked his hand up his length then found Tony's hole with two fingers. Steve pushed in roughly, knowing Tony liked it on the edge of pain, and after not enough prep, he guided Tony down onto his cock. The stretch was magnificent. Steve had never been this hard before - at least he'd never felt this hard before.

Tony lifted both hands to fist in his hair and started rocking his hips back and forth, letting Steve lift and drop him down again so his cock rubbed deliciously up his insides. "Oh my god, yes, yes. That's it - fuck." Tony kept working Steve's cock, chasing his pleasure. The pheromones in the air were making him beyond horny and he had no doubt that he'd stay hard after coming, ready to go again almost immediately.

Steve whimpered and squeezed his eyes shut, pushing and pulling, hard enough that his fingertips would leave little bruises in the dips of Tony's hip bones.

"Holy shit," Bucky breathed from the other side of the bed and both alphas started, eyes springing open, stilling. "Don't stop."

"Sorry," Steve breathed, his hand flopping out to reach for Bucky. "Sorry."

"It's okay. That's - that's pretty much the hottest thing I've ever seen. Do you -" Bucky's eyes cut to Tony. "Does he like it when you do that to him, too?"

Tony grinned. "Oh yeah. I just was, actually. Wanna see?"

Bucky swallowed heavily and nodded.

"Alright." Tony smacked Steve's side lightly. "Roll over."

Steve rocked his hips up. "Gotta get off me first, Stark."

"Mmm, I plan to."

Steve laughed. When Tony slipped off, Steve rolled over onto his stomach then shoved his hips in the air. Tony watched Bucky's face, his pupils blown wide, fixed on Steve. He dipped down and ran his tongue up the crease of Steve's ass, lapping up the sweet omega slick and Steve's bitter come.

"Oh my god," Bucky whined.

"Are you okay?" Steve asked, muffled where his cheek was pressed into the pillow. "Do you need a knot now?"

"No, no, I'll be fine for a bit. I - uh -" Bucky coughed. "Not going to miss out on the opportunity to see this."

Tony stroked his cock a few times then slid it into Steve's hole in a long, slow, slide, pushing out a breathy moan.

"Jesus." Bucky's voice cracked.

"He loves getting fucked, your Steve," Tony told him. "Took a bit of convincing, but now he can't get enough. Sometimes he wakes me up in the middle of the night, just begging for my cock. You like that don't you?"

"Fucking love it," Bucky muttered. "I always knew he liked alphas, but I never pictured it like this."

"You pictured me with another alpha?" Steve asked, startled.

"Sure… It was obvious you had a thing for them. How could I not think about it?"

"Oh, Bucky," Steve moaned, turning his head back into the pillow.

"Hey, Steve, if you come on my cock, are you still going to be able to knot your omega?"

Steve nodded furiously into the pillow. "Yes! Fuck me, Tony, come on. I know you're holding back."

Tony chuckled again then let himself loose, pounding into Steve as hard as he wanted. The slick, hot, tight made pleasure build in his core, but it was Steve who came first, crying out and burying his face in the pillow as he shot his come over the sheets.

Bucky cursed and the bed shifted as he moved. Tony looked over to see he had one hand fisted around his own cock and was stroking slowly.

Tony sat back, letting Steve go, and he slumped down on the bed. "Nuhh," he moaned.

Tony smiled at Bucky who smiled back. "He might be a minute."

"So… uh." Bucky bit his lip and rocked his hips a little. "Help an omega out?"

Tony froze - he hadn't considered that when Steve said Bucky wanted him to be involved, that he'd mean _that_ involved. "Uh."

"Or not." Bucky looked away. "It's okay. I can wait."

"Do you - but do you want that, though?"

Bucky found his eyes again. He looked nervous. "Yes?"

"Oh."

Steve rolled over and ran a hand up Tony's chest. He cupped his jaw. "Please? You take such good care of me. I want Bucky to experience that."

"Okay." Tony shifted over and petted up Bucky's leg. "You tell me to stop and I stop, okay?"

"Okay."

Tony crawled up behind Bucky so he and Steve were facing each other then tucked up against his back. He scented him gently and his mouth watered at the syrupy sweetness behind Bucky's ear. "Christ, you smell so good."

Bucky rocked back, his ass rubbing against Tony's still-hard cock, and Tony slipped a hand down to brush over the curve of Bucky's hip. Over his shoulder, Steve was watching them with a serene expression. It was beautiful to see him so happy, and Tony couldn't believe that _this_ of all things had brought him there. But at the same time, he did understand. He felt it too. Maybe it was just the soup of horny hormones flooding the space, but it felt easy and simple to rut up against Bucky and then slide inside.

He was so slick that Tony could feel the fluid leaking out around his cock. Some of that was Steve's come. Tony groaned and dropped his face to the back of Bucky's neck. The heat was incredible, Bucky's soft insides rippling around his cock. "Okay, fuck, it's been a long time since I had an omega. This isn't going to take long."

Bucky choked about a gasp then moaned. His skin was hot under Tony's hands and he held him close, pressing against every inch he could reach and rocking deeper. Steve shuffled up against Bucky's chest until he was locked tightly between them. Tony felt the bed rocking in counterpoint to his thrusts and he looked over Bucky's side to see that Steve had them both in hand, the flushed heads of their cocks pressed together and leaking over his thumb.

Tony thrust deeper, harder, and he could feel the swell of his knot start to bloom at the base of his cock. "Do you want me to knot you?" he asked, slightly stunned that Bucky hadn't pushed him away to be replaced with Steve yet.

"Yes - but - ah -"

Tony slowed, digging his teeth into Bucky's shoulder to fend off the drive to _move._ "What?"

"I want - I -" Bucky's eyes met Steve's and Tony watched them communicate silently for a moment. "I want both of you."

Steve's eyebrow shot up. "At once?"

"Yes, please. Fuck, I'm so - I need more. I want you both."

Tony swallowed back the rush of arousal at that, cracking out a shaky, "I'm going to try not to be offended by that," but the breathlessness of his voice ruined the joke.

"Come on, Stevie," Bucky begged. "I need to feel you."

Tony remembered the double knotting sleeve, how it had felt to feel Steve pushed up against him. "You can't take two knots."

"I _can,"_ Bucky growled. "I feel like I'm going to implode if I can't have you both, _please."_

Steve met Tony's eyes over Bucky's shoulder, and he gave a little nod.

"Okay," Tony said, "but _fuck_ Bucky, you _have to promise_ to say something if it's too much. If you get hurt, you're going to be in absolute agony for the rest of your heat."

"Okay, okay, I promise." Bucky mewled and rolled his hips forward, rubbing his cock against Steve's, making them both groan, then he rocked back to sink Tony deeper.

"Fuck. Okay." Tony eased back until his knot was well out of the way and felt Steve nudge up against him with two fingers. Bucky's body gave easily to the intrusion, and Tony started to think this might actually be possible.

Steve worked Bucky open for as long as any of them could handle, which wasn't long, then pressed his cock up against Tony's. Tony stayed as still as he could manage as Steve squeezed in beside him, Bucky barely breathing out choppy little gasps and curses. It was impossibly tight, impossibly hot, and Tony could feel every pulse and throb of Steve against him.

Steve's hand stretched past Bucky's side and gripped Tony's bicep, hard. They rocked together now, easing deeper and deeper until their knots were wedged together, nudged up against Bucky's hole. For a moment, they all just breathed.

"Buck, you okay?" Steve asked quietly, and Bucky nodded.

"Yes, fuck, that's amazing. Oh my god, thank you."

Tony could hear them kiss, and Steve's fingers stroked up and down his arm. He pulled out slowly until he risked popping free then pushed in again, making Bucky curse and twitch. Bucky's body pumped out more slick until the slide was free and easy and he and Steve were able to rock together, filling Bucky up and stretching him wide.

Being there with the man he loved, sharing an omega, was making Tony's head spin. There was so much heat and love and reckless abandon in the room, that he just let go and let his body move how it wanted to. It wasn't long before familiar pressure was building. "Fuck, I"m going to knot, I'm going to come."

"Please, please," Bucky begged.

"Oh, I want to feel that." Steve sounded utterly awed, and that was what pushed Tony over the edge. He jerked forward, pressing his knot hard against Bucky's fucked out hole until it finally slipped inside. It swelled in the heat, and a wave of electricity shot down his spine and he started to come.

Throb after throb washed through him until he had to squeeze his eyes shut and press his face against Bucky's shaking back so the only thing he could feel was Steve's cock rubbing against his knot, milking endless streams of come from him to slick its way. It spilled out around them both, Tony's knot not locking them together properly with Steve's cock in the way, until everything was wet, and sticky, and messy.

Bucky cried out, and Steve moaned. Tony could feel the clenching of his muscles as he came too, squeezing around Tony's knot and making Steve still for a moment as the pressure became too much. He wanted to see Bucky come, pulsing over Steve's chest but he couldn't move, couldn't see.

"Come on, Stevie," Bucky moaned, followed by the smack of a wet kiss. "You too."

"Oh, Buck -" Steve's cock pistoned faster against Tony's. There didn't seem to be any way he could fit in as well, but with each thrust he pushed a little harder, driving Tony's knot deeper, and then finally, Bucky's body gave, and Steve pushed his knot inside too, wedged up against Tony's and stretching Bucky impossibly wide around both of them.

They all swore in unison, the room filled with their wet breaths.

"Are you okay? Are you okay?" Steve asked desperately, voice shaking.

 _"Yes,"_ Bucky choked out.

"You're crying." Steve's hand shifted away from Tony's arm.

"It's so fucking good. Oh my god - I can't, but I'm going to - _fuck -"_ Bucky came again, this time around both of them, clenching and squeezing and shaking. Steve had to be a mess of his come right now and that thought combined with the close press of their three bodies coaxed another wave out of Tony too.

Bucky panted against Steve's shoulder, almost sobs, and Tony petted his hand down his side and up his back as they settled into the knot. "You're sure you can handle this?" Tony asked.

"I'm good. This - it's amazing. Thank you. I feel - god, I'm going to pass out again." He chuckled, and both Tony and Steve clutched him closer.

Steve's hand snaked over Bucky's side again and found Tony's hand down on his hip. He wound their fingers together. "You can sleep. It's okay."

"Okay, okay. Thank you," Bucky muttered again, and then he was out.

Steve pushed himself up a little, and Tony could finally see his face properly. "You feel incredible, Tony."

"This is even better than that toy," Tony said with a laugh, and Steve smiled. He reached up and brushed a thumb across Tony's cheek then leaned in awkwardly to kiss him. Their lips could barely meet, tangled up as they were, but it was sweet and loving, and any remaining tension in Tony disappeared.  "Love you."

"Love you, too. You should also sleep. It's late and tomorrow he's going to need a lot of both of us. Peak day always did me in when I was small and now it seems whatever version of the serum he got has ramped his need up too."

Tony looked down at where their bodies were still bound together. He'd never heard of anyone taking two knots outside of porrn where he was pretty sure it was faked. "Uh yeah." But now that Steve had said it, he felt sleep starting to lap up at his edges. "Yeah, I could sleep. You should too."

"Okay." Steve wound their fingers together again. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Tony held both of them as tightly as he could as he drifted off to sleep.

**

Steve felt it as soon as he woke up.

Bucky was already awake, watching him, and it was obvious he could feel it too. His fingers stroked over Steve's cheek and down to his lips. They'd stayed tangled in the night, though he and Tony had both slipped free of Bucky's body.

"You okay?" Bucky whispered.

Steve looked over Bucky's shoulder to where Tony was still asleep, pressed up against the back of his neck. "I didn't think this would happen. At least not so soon." He was pumping out bonding hormone, they both were, but it hardly mattered, because the bond they'd formed in another lifetime had throbbed back to life and was singing in Steve's chest. It felt huge and heavy and hot, pressing up against his lungs and stealing his breath. Just as it had the first time they'd bonded.

"I know you're with him," Bucky said, and it didn't sound strained. "It's okay. He really loves you, Stevie, it makes me happy to see that. I'm good. I've honestly never been so good. Everything feels amazing, and you're alive, and you have this whole life that just -" Bucky cut himself off, voice going rough. "I'm just really happy for you, and if this bond is only platonic this time, it's okay."

"You rebonded?"

Steve's eyes snapped over to Tony. He hadn't moved, still snuggled up against Bucky's back, but his eyes were open now, bright and alert and fixed on Steve.

"I don't think we ever really unbonded, to be honest," Steve admitted. "It was always there. It's stronger now. I should have known this might happen, but I didn't think -"

"Okay." Tony wasn't giving away how he felt about it.

"I love you," Steve reminded him.

"I love you, too." And it sounded honest and happy, so Steve relaxed down onto the bed again.

"You guys are cute," Bucky said, naked and sandwiched between them, and Tony's laughter sent warmth right down to Steve's core. It nestled up against the the spot where his bond with Bucky was reignited.

Tony stayed for the rest of Bucky's heat, swapping out with Steve and taking him together once more on the peak day. When it was over, they showered together, then dressed. Instead of leaving, Steve and Tony joined Bucky on his couch, their body heat helping him through the last stage of his cycle, when the chills hit as the hormones dipped down again. This time, when he fell asleep, Steve tucked a blanket around him, kissed his forehead, then took Tony's hand and led him to the elevator.

"You sure he'll be alright?"

"He'll be fine. He's through it. Usually, he likes to be left alone for a day or two, actually. He gets sore and grumpy while I'm still worked up. I'll order him some pizza in a few hours."

Tony chuckled and pulled Steve close against him. "We're good, right?"

"At my end? God, yes. We've never been better. I love you so much for sharing this with me. And trusting me so completely - Tony, I can't - I can't tell you how much I -"

"Shh." Tony pulled him into a hug, scented him - and he could smell the undertones of their bond there now, too - then kissed him firmly. "I know."

**

Steve was sitting in Tony's desk chair down in the workshop when Tony returned from a long day of meetings at SI. Normally, that would mean he was about to receive an enthusiastic welcome home blow job, but Steve looked uncomfortable.

"You okay?" Tony dropped his briefcase and peeled off his jacket.

"I just talked to Bucky. We ordered the heat suppressants."

"Oh." Tony frowned at the twist in Steve's expression. "You don't want him to take them, do you?"

"What? No, of course I do. It's a medical miracle that it exists. You wouldn't believe the horrible things that used to happen to unbonded omegas during their heats. I think it's amazing."

Tony settled himself on Steve's lap, hands clasped behind his head. "I didn't ask if you thought suppressors were nifty, Steve. I asked if you wanted Bucky to take them."

Steve was quiet for a moment, fiddling with the buttons on Tony's shirt. "He says the heats make him feel human again. Another thing they stole from him for so long."

"Hmm."

Steve tugged Tony down for a kiss, running his tongue along his bottom lip. "How was your day?"

"Long… boring… pointless. The usual when it's a day I'm spending away from you."

Steve's soft smile broke into a lusty grin, and Tony pulled him closer, licking and nipping as they ground together.

"Insatiable," came a voice from across the workshop.

Tony looked up to find Bucky tipping backwards onto the couch, a book in hand. He wasn't wearing a glove which was a good sign, his metal hand gleaming against the white pages of a new novel.

Tony flashed his teeth in a predatory smile. "You're the kinky perv who's going to watch," Tony teased back.

Bucky didn't say anything but the look he shot Tony was all cheeky lust.  

"I wouldn't think an omega would want to see two alphas together," Steve mused, fingers still inching their way up under the hem of Tony's t-shirt.

"Think of it this way," Bucky said. "Imagine you like alphas."

"That's going to take a huge stretch of the imagination," Tony said, "but I'll try." Steve pinched him.

"So you like them all aggressive fire, and growly rumbling, and dumb as a bag of rocks, right?"

"Hey!"

"So with two alphas you get twice the dumbass rocks. Who wouldn't want that?"

"Are you sure you like alphas?" Steve glared, and Bucky laughed.

"Twice the alpha, twice the knot," Bucky singsonged. "So by all means, don't let me interrupt."

Tony rolled his hips on Steve's lap, fully intending to comply, but he couldn't get their earlier conversation out of his mind. He stilled. "Hey, Bucky? Do you want to go on heat suppressors?"

Tension rippled through Bucky's frame and he twisted up until he was sitting properly, tossing his book aside. "No… but I know I should so -"

"No, I didn't ask what you thought you should do. Just want you want."

"No, I don't want. I want to feel connected to my body like that again. It feels right to have a heat. Sorry."

Tony ignored the apology. "Okay. And who do you want to help you through it? Steve? Me and Steve? A stranger from a service? A robot I build for you?"

"Uh…"

"There's no wrong answer." Tony turned towards Bucky, shifting around in Steve's lap. Steve stayed quiet and perfectly still.

"In a perfect world? You and Steve. Together. That felt good. Really, really safe."

"Okay. And what about your bond with Steve? Do you want to let it fade, just be friends? Or do you want to keep it alive?" Tony asked.

Bucky's eyes cut to Steve and they softened with a hundred years of history. "Keep it," he all but whispered.

"Well. That was easy," Tony said.

"What?" Steve and Bucky said in unison.

Tony sighed. "Look. I love Steve, Steve loves you, you love Steve, Steve loves me. Helping you through your heat was one of the most incredible experiences of my life and I'd be honoured to do it again. I thought I'd be jealous of what you two have but I'm not, cause getting to see you happy just… it's everything to me. So this is all good. We don't have to add drama just for the sake of adding drama. We'll just… keep on keeping on." Tony waved vaguely.

"Are you saying you're okay with me and Bucky dating as well?" Steve looked like he'd been slapped with a fish.

"Yeah, sure. You guys are beautiful together, and I don't say that lightly. It means I get to enjoy an omega in heat, Bucky doesn't have to go on suppressors, and Steve has someone to keep his needy ass company while I'm on business trips."

"Not sure I can take care of his needy _ass_ quite way you do, Stark," Bucky said with a twinkle in his eye.

Tony grinned back. "Oh, I can show you some tricks." Steve squirmed under him and Tony looked down. He ran his fingers gently through Steve's hair. "What about you? Is that what you want?"

"It sounds too good to be true."

Tony turned back to Bucky. "You?"

He nodded. "That's exactly what I want."

"Good. Then we're all on the same page and I can finally get my welcome home blowjob."

Steve laughed. "Who says you were in line for one?"

"I do." Tony sucked Steve's bottom lip between his teeth, teasing out a moan, then rolled on his lap again until he could feel Steve's jeans start to tent.

Steve growled and stood, hooking his hands under Tony's thighs to hold him up. He dropped him on the desk hard enough to jolt out a gasp, then dove to Tony's neck, biting and sucking and no doubt peppering bruises along his skin. He dropped to his knees with a thud and his hands went to Tony's pants, pawing at his zipper.

"Oh, god," Tony groaned at the heat of Steve's breath on his stomach. He flicked his eyes over Steve's back and found Bucky watching them. Their gazes locked, and Tony's breath was momentarily robbed by the depth of feeling he found in Bucky's. Affection and gratitude, lust and desire, safety and comfort. Tony nodded and Bucky smiled back, then Steve finally got his lips around Tony's cock and he couldn't focus on much else anymore.

Steve sucked him down hard and fast, relentlessly teasing with his tongue and giving Tony no time to catch his breath. When he spilled down Steve's throat, Bucky's lips parted in a silent moan, eyes dropping soft and needy, so hot that Tony had to bite his own knuckle to keep from popping a knot in Steve's mouth.

"Fuck." Tony flopped backwards onto the desk and Steve rose, chuckling, wiping his mouth off.

He hauled Tony back up to his feet and kissed him, once. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me." Tony stroked his hands down Steve's chest. "It's not a gift. This is what I want, too. This is what we all want. No one's getting the short end of the stick."

"Well, thank you for figuring out that this is what we all want, then." Steve kissed the tip of his nose.

Tony chuckled. "Happy to be the brains of the operation. Now go sit with Brawn and leave me alone. I've got work to do."

Steve stole another kiss then went over to the couch where he flopped onto the cushions, pulling Bucky half in his lap. "Wait. If you're Brains and Buck is Brawn, what does that make me?"

"Good point. Guess we don't need you after all." Bucky picked up his book again. But Steve pouted and crossed his arms. Bucky caught Tony's eye across the room and they shared a look. He smiled. "Come on, Stevie -" he patted his knee "- isn't it obvious you're the heart?"

Tony watched them gaze stupidly at each other for a while, caught in the sweetness of their love for one another and the happy haze of an orgasm well done. But his work eventually pulled hard enough on his mind that he turned back to his screens and started to type.

**

The next few months were some of the best Bucky could ever remember having. Working with BARF was hard, but he was healing, the trigger words melting away with every session he did. He felt safe for the first time in a long time. And he remembered what loved felt like.

Steve was clearly on cloud 9, floating around the penthouse in a haze of happy that made Bucky share eye-rolling looks with Tony. It never crossed his mind to be jealous; Tony loved Steve, Bucky wasn't even sure if Tony was fully aware of just how much, and that was perfect. Steve deserved it.

And Tony… Tony was interesting. He oscillated wildly between affectionate, standoffish, warm, silly, and insecure. He wore his heart on the back of his shirt - obvious to everyone else and invisible to him. With each advancing heat, Bucky found himself drawn more and more to Tony, joining him in the workshop to watch him putter with his robots, or getting sucked into the sci fi shows Stevie couldn't stand to watch.

After their third shared heat as a three, Bucky realized there was something he wanted, but he didn't know how to ask for it. He waited until Tony was out for the day then cornered Steve. "Stevie, Tony likes me, right?"

"Hmm?" Steve looked up from his painting. He had watercolours smeared across his cheek. "Course he does, Buck. He loves you."

"But not the same way you love me."

Steve shrugged. "You haven't known each other very long. Give him time."

"There's actually - there's something I'd like to try, if you wouldn't mind. But only if you don't mind."

Steve set his paint brush aside and turned towards Bucky fully. "What is it?"

"I'd like to try a heat with just Tony," Bucky admitted.

"Oh." Steve went very still, a hundred different expressions flitting across his face as he processed that. "Just you and Tony?"

"Yes."

"Why?" Steve held out a hand. "Not that I'm opposed! I actually think it's a great idea. I'm just curious why _you_ want to."

"He thinks it's you and him, and you and me. There's no me and him to Tony. It doesn't feel right to me. It feels like something's missing. And maybe he doesn't want that, he didn't sign up for an ex-assassin, ex-boyfriend omega falling in his lap when he started dating you, but if he's holding back because of what you and I have, I don't like that. So I thought maybe I could give us a chance. But if it would bother you, I won't bring it up again."

"No… no it doesn't bother me." Steve stood and rested his arms across Bucky's shoulders, keeping his paint-stained hands hanging well away from Bucky's shirt but bringing their faces close together. "I like the idea. I want you two to be closer. I don't want to feel like the filling in the sandwich cookie. You two could be wonderful together."

Bucky kissed him softly.

"Plus, then if I go away for a mission, you guys can look after each other. In our line of work, that's a nice comfort isn't it? That if something happens, you two still -" Steve cut himself off, eyes dropping to the floor.

"It is nice, Stevie. It's a nice comfort." Bucky waited until Steve gaze rolled back up to his again. "I'm really glad you found him, you know. I'm really glad our bond didn't stop you from being happy. When I was sure I was going to die, all I could think about was how awful it was that I was leaving you on your own. I'm really, really glad you weren't."

"I was for a long time. But I'm glad I found him, too. And to have you back as well? It's - Sometimes it's too much."

"Will you ask him about the heat?"

"Sure. You don't want to ask him yourself?"

"I think you can explain it better."

"Okay." Steve hummed into another kiss.

Bucky gently pushed him away. "You're going to get distracted and dribble paint everywhere."

Steve stepped away, but with a cheeky grin. "Make it up to me later?"

"Maybe." Bucky tucked himself into a big armchair in the corner where he could see Steve paint and read his book. "If you're good."

**

When Bucky walked into the room, Tony almost fell on his ass from the power of his heat-scent. He wanted to drown in it. And it was amazing to him that it was starting to become so familiar, so welcoming. Bucky closed the door behind him, but didn't come any closer, and Tony stood, unable to sit still any longer. "It's okay if this is awkward," he offered.

Bucky leaned back against the door, hands tucked behind him. "What?"

"It's okay if this is awkward," Tony repeated. "You don't have to pretend for my sake. Steve wants us to get closer, but like, I get that it's inherently weird that your boyfriend's boyfriend is helping you through your heat."

Bucky was still for a long time. "Aren't you my boyfriend too?"

"What?"

Bucky's face fell. "Oh."

"No, I - what?" Tony backtracked as quickly as he could. "I didn't know that was - I didn't know you felt that way."

Bucky blinked at him like he was stupid. "Of course I do. I thought that was where all of this was heading. An equal three, not Stevie trapped in the middle. If I didn't like you like that, I wouldn't be in here during my heat, asking for your help."

Tony rubbed the back of his neck with one hand. "I sorta thought you just put up with me for Steve's sake. You know, cause he loves us both and he worries about shit like that. I wouldn't put it past you, I'm really annoying."

Bucky barked out an incredulous laugh then marched across the room. He shoved himself up in Tony's space. "It's not just for Steve, Tony. When I first saw you I asked, 'Who's that?' and Stevie said, 'that's Tony.' and I said, 'He's hot. Well done.'"

"Oh. Huh."

"I liked you from the start. Even if you make it pretty damn difficult once in a while." Bucky reached out and tugged on Tony's shirt, fiddling with the buttons. "I want you here. I asked Steve if he'd be okay with us being alone for a heat some time and he told me it should be this one, that he'd ask you. I thought you were okay with this."

"I'm okay with this." Tony reached out and let his palms skate up Bucky's arms. "Honest. I just wanted to make sure it was what you really wanted. Because if it's not, I can convince Steve that everything's fine the way it is."

"But it's not fine." Bucky chewed his lip and flicked his eyes up to Tony. Sweat broke out across his brow and Tony could smell the first sweet waves of his oncoming heat. "It's not fine because you have Steve and I have Steve, but I feel like there's this wall between you and me, and I hate it. If you can't forgive me…"

"Hey, whoa." Tony cupped Bucky's cheek. "That's not it. I do forgive you. It hasn't always been easy to separate you from the person who took my parents, but the Winter Soldier was just wearing your face. I get that now. Steve loves and trusts you and that's all I need to know. I don't blame you. I want you here. Okay?"

Bucky nodded. "Okay."

"I admit, I'm a little nervous. Been a while since I've done a heat on my own, and there was never much pressure before because we were never going to see each other again. Now if I screw up, you and Steve'll laugh at me." Tony kissed the end of Bucky's nose to show he was kidding.

"Don't worry, Stark. We laugh at you anyway."

They tumbled down on the bed together and Tony turned on a movie. He already had food and water at hand, and now it was just a matter of waiting until Bucky started to need. If they wound each other up too early, they'd both run out of energy long before Bucky's body was done wanting. With only one alpha here to help, they had to be a little more careful with wasting energy. As the movie went on, Bucky shifted closer and closer until he had his face pressed in Tony's neck, sucking in soothing alpha pheromones as the first waves of heat hit him.

And _fuck_ did Bucky ever smell good. His skin was hot and he was sweating out the syrupy sweetness that made Tony want to lick him all over. Tony realized a heartbeat later that he _was_ licking him, running little kitten kisses along the edge of Bucky's jaw. Bucky moaned and rolled onto his stomach, squirming on the sheets. "Tony, please," he begged.

"I've got you. You're okay." Tony pulled Bucky's t-shirt over his head and threw it aside then worked his sweatpants down over his hips. Bucky wasn't wearing any underwear and as soon as he was bare, he flooded the room with his intoxicating scent. The heat was coming in fast now, and Tony didn't have time to be nervous anymore. He rubbed his chin over Bucky's shoulders and nuzzled up behind his ears, scenting him. Underneath the soft sweetness of Bucky's omega scent was a sharp tickle, an unexpected spice: Steve. It was their bond. Tony chased after it, burrowing deeper, pushing on Bucky's glands with his nose to urge them to release more. Tony's cock throbbed between his legs, desperate, a knot already starting to bulge at the base.

Bucky arched his hips up and Tony slipped his hand down, sliding his fingers through the mess on Bucky's thighs and pressing into his hole. "Tony, I can't," Bucky whined, and hearing his name fall off the omega's lips like that drove Tony into action. He kicked his own clothes off and draped himself over Bucky's back. Bucky was so wet that he slipped in easily, pressing until the beginnings of his knot pushed inside too.

They rocked together, hot and fast, and Tony's orgasm came on suddenly after only a few minutes. He held Bucky tight while he throbbed inside him, then eased down onto his side with Bucky spooned up against his chest. His fingers wandered down towards Bucky's cock, but Bucky whimpered. "Not yet. Too - too much."

"Okay, sweetheart." Tony kissed the back of his neck. "Just relax."

The rest of the day and the following night slipped by in a haze of sweet sweat and knots. Tony woke early the next morning to the sound of the door clicking open. He was still tied to Bucky, their last round having only been a short while ago, and he growled a low warning at whoever was opening the bedroom door.

Steve's face appeared, soft and sheepish, and he ducked his chin. "Sorry," he whispered. "Forgot my sketchbook."

Tony growled again then cut himself off. He pressed his face into Bucky's back. "Sorry. Rude."

Steve chuckled. "I get it. It's okay, I'm not coming any closer." He slipped into the ensuite closet and reappeared with his art bag. He paused for a moment and Tony watched his eyes skate down over their joined bodies. His nostrils flared. "You two look really amazing together," he said softly.

Tony felt the urge to growl well up again, to curl over Bucky and keep all other alphas away, but he tamped it down. This was _Steve._ "Thank you," he said, rough and honest, and it wasn't for the compliment.

Steve nodded and smiled. "See you in two days. Love you. Both of you."

"Love you too. I'll let him know."

Steve slipped out of the room again, and Tony relaxed, not noticing until now that he'd been tensed for a fight. It was all pure instinct. He knew Steve wouldn't have an issue - being lucid and clear and not pickled from omega pheromones and rutty hormones - but Tony's body screamed _mine!_ too loudly to ignore. Tony nuzzled at the back of Bucky's neck again and found the spice of their bond settled there. He fell asleep to the mixed scents of Bucky and Steve wrapped around him.

**

The peak day of Bucky's heat hit hard. It was all a bit unpredictable, since his "reset" but he woke up in agony, insides cramping and stomach rolling. He was so sweaty he'd soaked the bed and he felt sticky and sore from head to toe. He moaned and Tony jerked awake.

"Uh? Okay? Bucky?"

"Tony," he moaned. "I'm so - ugh."

"Shh." Tony skated a hand down his back. "Here." He handed Bucky a water bottle from beside the bed and Bucky took little sips, willing his stomach to accept it. "What does Steve usually do for you when it gets like this?"

"Shower," Bucky said. "Then a knot. As long as he can. After that, I can usually eat something."

"Okay." Tony sat up then grinned. "Actually, let me show you one of the benefits of knowing me."

Bucky arched a brow, but stood when Tony eased him up to his feet. He was a little shaky, but Tony's arm around his waist was steadying, and he smelled heady and soothing. Bucky tipped his nose into Tony's neck and breathed in.

"There you go." Tony led them both to the bathroom then sat Bucky down on a stool by the door. He started fiddling with knobs and the soothing rush of water filled the room. "Come here." Tony eased him back up and pulled him into the most lavish shower stall Bucky had ever seen in his live.

"Wow." He looked around at all the jets and nozzles, the edges lined with bottles that smelled enticing, and one whole side was a thick, tile bench with a squishy seat on top.

Tony stood Bucky under the water and popped open a few bottles. The first was mint-scented shampoo which he scrubbed through Bucky's hair with firm fingers. It was so grounding and so pleasing that Bucky almost forgot about the aching, gaping pain in his abdomen. Tony was quick and efficient. When Bucky's hair was clean he moved on to his body, scrubbing body wash over every inch then using a spray head on a hose to rinse him off. The water wasn't cold but it was a bit cool and it sluiced away the sweat and grime and left Bucky feeling almost human.

Tony cupped his face. "How's that?"

"Better." He leaned forward and claimed a kiss, and as soon as Tony's lips touched his, electricity shot down his spine to his cock which throbbed to attention.

"And now…" Tony moved backwards, tugging Bucky with him and the water followed them, rippling along through the line of shower heads until they reached the bench. Tony sat down and turned Bucky around then pulled him back into his lap. The water sprayed over his chest, still pleasantly cool, and Tony was solid and steady under him. His hole was throbbing with slick so it was nothing for him to rock his hips back until Tony's cock slipped inside. They fit together perfectly - he finally felt whole.

Bucky melted in Tony's lap, dropping his head back to rest on his shoulder and letting Tony set a slow roll of their bodies. The water cascaded over both of them, both the feel and the sound incredibly soothing. Bucky realized his nausea was gone, his cramping was gone, all he could feel was the rush of the shower and the steady rocking of Tony in and out.

Time fuzzed and blurred, and Bucky let himself fuzz and blurr with it. It wasn't the heavy, loud static of the resetter the handlers used, it was a soft, easy haze, grounded at several solid points by Tony's touch.

"I'm gonna come," Tony suddenly whispered in Bucky's ear, making him startle up from where he'd slumped. "Want my knot?"

"Yes," Bucky replied. "Please."

Tony thrust into him a few more times then Bucky could feel the swell of his knot press against his rim. It slid in, the stretch groan-worthy but not painful and then they were locked together. Tony's orgasm went on for a while and Bucky slumped back over him, feeling pleasantly filled. He didn't notice how hard he was himself until Tony's hand snaked around and gripped his cock. "This okay?"

"Yes - oh!" Bucky jerked his hips forward into Tony's hand, pulling on the knot and sending a shudder of pain-pleasure up his spine. He pressed back down onto Tony's lap and let him set the rhythm.

His orgasm built slowly, gentle waves lapping higher and higher on the shore, until he clenched down around where Tony's knot dug into his prostate and came with a sigh. Come splashed over Tony's hand but the water washed it away and left them both clean again.

They stayed in the shower until Tony's knot receded - the water staying miraculously warm - and then he slid free gently, gave Bucky another once-over with a loofah, then led them both back to the bedroom. He pulled off the sheets and threw them in the corner then snapped on replacements. When Bucky tipped into the freshly made bed, clean and knot-sated, he couldn't help the happy groan.

Tony smiled down at him, self-satisfied, then left the room. He came back with a tray of food which he set next to Bucky's hip. Bucky curled around the tray with his head in Tony's lap and opened his mouth obediently every time he offered him a piece of food.

"So. Steve was here last night."

"What?" Bucky tried to sit up but Tony eased him back down.

"It's fine. Nothing's wrong. He just forgot something. Uh… I growled at him."

Bucky laughed. "Bet he loved that."

"He didn't mind. You know he's a gentleman. He was all 'don't worry Tony, I won't touch your omega.'"

"Probably went and beat up three punchi- wait, what? 'Your omega'?"

Tony shifted under him and this time when Bucky tried to sit up, he let him. "Well. I mean like - mine right now. For the heat… you know how it is. Makes you all… uh -"

Bucky frowned at Tony, trying to read his expression then he leaned in and breathed him in heavily, pressing his nose against his glands and huffing in until his mouth was drenched with Tony's scent. He didn't just smell like an alpha put into heat-rut. He smelled like bonding.

"Are you trying to bond with me?" Bucky couldn't help but splutter. He was already bonded to Steve. He could feel it thrumming deep inside him. He didn't even know if an omega _could_ bond with two alphas.

But the fact that Tony wanted him, that he made _Tony Stark_ of all people feel like that -

Tony ran a hand through his hair and flushed. "No. Or, well. I mean - You're Steve's, I know that."

"I want to be both of yours," spilled out of Bucky in a rush and he resisted the urge to slap a hand over his mouth and try and rein the words back in.

"Oh." Tony stared at him for a long time. "I never thought -" His voice was rough. "I didn't even think I could bond. I've never felt like this."

Bucky shifted closer and nuzzled Tony's neck, releasing more of his pheromones into the air. He sucked them in. If he could bond a second time, breathing in Tony's scent would alter his own, he'd start producing his own bonding hormones and they'd link together forever. "I want this."

"Oh god, me too." Tony shoved the tray aside and folded himself over Bucky, pinning him to the sheets. His skin was the perfect temperature, soothing the heat that raged inside Bucky without chilling him. Their mouths met, a rough mix of teeth and tongues, and Tony swallowed down Bucky’s every gasp.

Electricity crackled between them, and Bucky felt the shift the moment the bond took. Tony pushed himself up on his hands and stared down at Bucky. "Really?" His eyes were wet.

Bucky smiled. "Really."

"Oh god, Steve is going to kill me."

Bucky laughed and ran both hands up Tony's sides. "He's not. We'll tell him together. He'll be happy, I promise."

Tony slumped down and buried his face in Bucky's neck. "I really didn't think I was able to do that. I've helped a lot of omegas through heat. I've never felt this way - the only -"

Bucky petted him gently until he could continue.

"The only person that's made me feel this way is Steve. I love him so much - you know that right? Like, it wasn't just some possessive thing that made me come with him that first heat. I just love him. So. Much."

"I know. I know what it's like to love Steve Rogers, Tony."

"Maybe that's why we're suitable."

Bucky pushed until Tony lifted his head and looked down at him again. "That's not why we're suitable. We're suitable without Steve. What we have between us is good. I love you, too, Tony."

"Wow." Tony stared down at him for a long time.

"You okay?"

"Yeah it just - it seems entirely implausible that I should get two in a span of only a few months. I'd sort of resigned myself to never getting love, quite a while ago. I was okay with it… Now I can't believe I was ever okay with missing out on this. I love you, too. I hope we can make this work between all of us."

"We will." Buck leaned up and kissed him softly. "But don't worry about it for now. Let's just get through this heat." Bucky's body was starting to throb with need again already. He rolled up against the firm line of Tony's thigh. "Please."

"Yeah, of course. I've got you." Tony drew him back into another sweet kiss.

**

Steve eyed the small pile of cosy things tucked into the corner of the sectional in Tony's apartment. They'd mostly been staying in the penthouse together the last few weeks, but when Bucky's most recent heat had hit, Steve had moved himself back downstairs to his own apartment to give him and Tony their space. He was happy to do it, happy to know they were getting a chance to get close and get to know each other, but that didn't mean he wasn't thrilled when he finally got Tony's text that he should come back upstairs.

But that blanket had always been in the cupboard before and the pillow next to it didn't look familiar at all.

"Stevie!" Bucky appeared in the doorway of the bedroom, grinning, with the bright glow of a well-knotted omega coming out of heat.

Steve crossed the room to gather him in his arms and scent him behind his ear. He smelled like sweet heat mixed with Tony's spice: perfect. "How was it?"

"Fantastic. Missed you though."

"I missed you too." Steve stole a kiss. "Tony's okay?"

"Yeah, he's showering."

"How do you feel?"

"Amazing. But also exhausted."

"Pizza and movies?"

Bucky groaned with pleasure. "Yes please."

Steve led Bucky over to the couch, settling them both on the side opposite the odd collection of blankets and pillows and - was that a sweater?

"Pepperoni?" Bucky asked.

"Sure." Steve ordered pizza through Jarvis then tucked Bucky up between his legs, back against his chest and burrowed into his hair, breathing him in and reigniting their bond.

A few minutes later, Tony appeared in a cloud of steam, wearing nothing but a towel, another towel slung over his shoulder. He smiled at them. "You guys are too cute."

"Join us?" Bucky asked, opening his arms.

"One minute. Going to pull on some clothes."

If Tony hadn't hesitated awkwardly, Steve wouldn't have noticed, but the little skip step, drew his eye back from the TV to Tony. He watched as Tony took the towel off his shoulder, dropped it over the back of the couch onto the pile of blankets then scurried back off towards the bedroom.

Steve stared at the pile. There was no way - was there?

Tony came back out in sweatpants and a t-shirt and Steve sat up, eyeing him critically. "Tony… are you nesting?"

Tony froze. "What? No…"

Steve pointed accusingly towards the pile of things. He shoved Bucky aside and started pawing through it. Two soft blankets, a bathrobe, several squishy pillows, a hoodie that reeked of Tony's spicy scent, and the towel. "You are! You're nesting! For - for Bucky? Did - did you -?" Steve pushed to his feet and looked between them, mouth open but unable to form any other words.

"I didn't mean to," Tony said softly. "Awfully soon. And I'm still not entirely sure where we all stand. I honestly didn't think I was capable of bonding. I've never felt like that before. But - uh - yeah. We were going to tell you together."

Bucky rolled up to his feet. "You made that for me?" He pointed to the pile.

"No." Tony pointed at him then at Steve. "No. I'm not nesting. That is not a nest. Did we bond? Yes. Was it unexpected and kind of wonderful? Yes. Has Tony Stark been hit with a nesting instinct so incredibly strong that he's been accumulating everything soft in the penthouse on one corner of the couch and hoping no one notices? Definitely not. That doesn't sound like me at all. No way."

Bucky reached out and picked up the hoodie. "Stevie never got nesty for me," he said softly, sounding awed.

A laugh bubbled up in Steve's chest and he couldn't hold it back. It burst out, taking another gale with it until he was doubled over, hooting.

"Stop it, Steve Rogers!" Tony shouted. "This is not funny! It's horrible and I hate it and I ordered _so much_ stuff on Amazon while I was in the shower and someone has to revoke my JARVIS privileges because this is getting _ridiculous."_

Bucky sat down primly in the middle of the pile and started wrapping blankets around his shoulders. It was all for the best, as the last of his heat was clearly fading and a sharp chill would hit in the next few hours, making him shivery and needy. "Thank you, Tony," he said loftily, shooting a pointed look at Steve who snorted again.

Steve gestured Tony over and wrapped his arms around him when he was close enough to reach. He pulled him in to his chest and kissed him then scented him. He could tell now, smell the markers on both of them. They were bonded. It tasted similar to his bond with Bucky, perhaps similar enough that from the outside, someone would sense it all as one, shared bond, but Steve could find the subtle undertones of Tony there.

"Is this okay?" Tony asked quietly, lips pressed against Steve's neck where he nuzzled into his glands.

Steve pulled away so their eyes could meet. "Of _course._ Tony this is the best possible outcome. I just want the three of us to be happy together. If you're happy with this, I'm happy."

Tony's smile was slow to bloom, but when it did, it lit up the room. "Yeah… yeah I'm happy. So happy. Couldn't ask for a better alpha or a better omega. You're both mine," he added softly.

"Yours." Steve kissed him on the forehead.

Bucky cleared his throat pointedly. "I was promised cuddles," he grumbled. "For the chills."

 _For the chills,_ Tony mouthed at Steve, and he snorted again, but they each settled on either side of Bucky, shifting Tony's nest around until they were all wrapped up in a mess off limbs and blankets.

Bucky slipped his hand into Steve's winding their fingers together. "Love you," he said, loudly enough that Tony could hear it too. Steve pressed a kiss to the top if his head then looked over at Tony who was watching them, and there was no edge of pain or fear left in that look. It was all affection. Bucky waved his other hand in Tony's direction until he caught it. "Love you too."

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Dulce y Picante](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21392875) by [ELODTC](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ELODTC/pseuds/ELODTC)




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